What would you tell yourself?

Once Devi gets her younger self to believe that it’s actually her on the phone, she sees the connection as her chance to fix everything that’s gone wrong in her life. She convinces YoungerDevi to do everything from study harder (so they get into a better college) to convince OlderDevi’s former best friend to not get plastic surgery. And, most importantly, she convinces YoungerDevi not to go out with Brian, the boy Devi spent her entire high school life with; the boy she lost all of her friendships over; the boy who just broke her heart.

But there’s no perfect way to mess with time, as both Devis quickly discover. Even as the college acceptance letter tacked to the wall morphs into one from a better school several times, the tiniest actions on the part of YoungerDevi affect OlderDevi’s life in unexpected (and often horrifying) ways. Now she needs YoungerDevi to fix her present as well as her past – but how far is too far? Will she ever be content with things as they are?

I thought this was a great read. Like OlderDevi, I have a list of things I’d like YoungerMelissa to go back and change – in theory. What would I give up from my present life in order to have some things I missed out on because of what YoungerMelissa chose to do? (What a great book club book this is.) The most interesting part of the whole thing, to me, is that I infinitely preferred YoungerDevi to OlderDevi, and definitely saw the merit in YoungerDevi getting to make changes in time to fix her future.

There’s a lot of humor here – sometimes YoungerDevi’s decision whips OlderDevi out of one life and into another with absolutely no notice, to hilarious effect. I wish that OlderDevi had had a more indepth realization that she really screwed up her life – that she did it to herself – rather than just insisting that YoungerDevi fix everything. There are moments of reflection, but I wanted them to go farther than they did.

Overall, though, this is a really good read (especially for summer) that will make anyone think about the choices they’ve made and are making in their life. And with the exception of a little underage drinking, it’s clean. I definitely recommend it.

Despite all of this, when I opened the box of ARCs from my Little, Brown sales rep, I was compelled to crack open JANE first. JANE – a modern retelling of JANE EYRE, one of my favorite books of all time. I have no idea where this compulsion came from. Perhaps I wanted to get what I thought might be a book that would tick me off out of the way? Perhaps I wanted to read through it, nodding to myself about how right I was that no one should ever mess around with anything I love? Whatever my motivation, I picked it up earlier today and read through it in a couple of hours.

And, surprisingly, I really, really liked it. A whole lot.

Lindner repackages Jane as Jane Moore, a 19 year old college student forced to drop out of Sarah Lawrence after the death of her emotionally distant parents. Jane’s only real job experience has been babysitting, so she applies for jobs through a nanny agency. She accepts a job as a nanny at Thornfield Park, the palatial home of rock star Nico Rathburn. Recasting Rochester as a rock star works surprisingly well, as it gives built-in charisma to the hero and provides a credible basis for Jane’s attraction to him. The story tracks the plot of JANE EYRE pretty closely from there, with Lindner managing to give her characters enough of their own stories and personalities to keep the book from feeling anything even close to a tired retread of a classic. There are times during the book where minor plot points seem a little contrived in order to stick to the basic original story, but nothing large enough to overshadow my overall enjoyment of the book. I have read JANE EYRE upwards of fifty times in my life, and I hope that two things will happen with JANE: other fans like me will enjoy it, and people who have never read the original will after they finish this.

This is Lindner’s debut novel, and rumor has it that her next will be a retelling of WUTHERING HEIGHTS. I’m fond of that story as well, but Lindner’s writing is good enough that I’m looking forward to the day when she’s fully telling her own tale. Until that time, I can wholeheartedly recommend JANE – with a warning for those who have kids or students who are reading up: Jane and Nico are adults and their relationship does take a sexual turn. It’s not particularly graphic, but it’s impossible to mistake it for anything else. There’s also a little profanity, but it’s not overused.

A not so side note: the cover picture in the Little, Brown catalog says “not final,” which I think is really, really good news. I hope the cover is changed completely. Right now it shows a girl in a short jacket and a long skirt standing in a misty field and the title is in tall pink letters. It’s boring, boring, boring. This is a retelling of JANE EYRE set at least partially in a rock and roll world, and the cover looks like…JANE EYRE. There is nothing about this cover that’s going to make someone want to pick it up. There’s nothing about this cover that says “Jane Eyre in love with a rock star.” This cover says “generic girl-centric fiction, possibly set on the prairie.” Little, Brown: please, please change this cover; this book deserves better.

And just in time, along comes Miss Lucy B. Parker.

Charming, flawed, sympathetic main character? Check. Lighthearted writing that nevertheless has some substance behind it? Check. Squeaky clean without feeling babyish? Check. Available in paperback? Check.

Lucy B. Parker sends emails to tv host Dr. Maude (presumably a Dr. Phil-esque advice giver) about the trials and travails of her sixth grade life, and the emails are scattered throughout the tale of same. As if it wasn’t hard enough starting sixth grade without her two BFFs, who friend-dumped her – on the phone – from the mall – right before school started! – her mother is now dating the father of the most famous young actress/singer on the planet (think Miley Cyrus early in the Hannah Montana years). Lucy’s been going through one embarrassing time after another and now she’s facing life as the far less attractive, appealing and talented stepsister of the most famous girl on the planet. How much worse can her life get?

This novel is charming as all get out and a complete no-brainer handsell. I’m predicting it will be a summer bestseller for me.  Over the last couple of years I have very much enjoyed selling Robin Palmer’s fairy-tale based contemporary YA novels, which I have happily been selling to tweens due to their lack of very older content. Now it’s lovely to see Ms. Palmer turning her hand to novels truly aimed at the tween market, which just seems to be exploding. I love having books that I can hand to anyone without a second thought – reader, mom, grandmother, aunt, birthday gift giver. I love having paperback original series. I love tweeniness.

I can’t wait for Lucy’s next adventure!

So you can imagine my delight when I opened the mailbox one day and discovered that a visitor had come to see me, all the way from the actual Academy!

It was time for the spring holidays at Knightley, and the WeeKnight decided to make a trip all the way here to St. Louis to see me. Apparently he’d gotten word of my fondness for the Academy, and decided to come and thank me in person. I decided the least I could do was show him a good time.

We started our time together with breakfast at the best bakery in St. Louis, Sweet Art. WeeKnight was a little perplexed about how to eat something that was just about his height. (He did much better with the cupcakes we bought for later.)

He was also a little startled to be handled by us, but soon got used to being carted around. (The armor gets very heavy, apparently.)

(He rejected Molly’s offer to loan him a purse, however.)

Before we went on with our exploring, the WeeKnight wanted to see if anything was going on at the Academy, so we pulled up the webpage on the iPhone for him. Fortunately all seemed to be calm, so we went on with our day. First stop: the St. Louis Zoo.

He decided to observe the elephants from a distance.

He did agree to get on the carousel with Molly, however.

He claimed to find it pretty tame, but I think he might have been covering his alarm over the size of the cat on which he was perched. Not too long after that, our day was done. We started his second day off with breakfast, of course.

We tried to warn him away from the caffeine, but just after this picture was taken, he overturned the cup and had the waitress fill it. That accounts for the sheer volume of things we did the rest of the day. First stop: the St. Louis Science Center.

The WeeKnight was glad to orient himself on a map after being carried around by me for almost two days.

He tried the musical hopscotch board, but couldn’t jump high enough to make the music play.

He made a new friend, though!

He tried to make some others, but they kept ignoring him.

He finished our time at the Science Center by playing in the Duplo blocks instead.

Our time with the WeeKnight was almost over, but we had one more stop to make: he wanted to see the book about his school up close, so we swung by – where else? – Pudd’nHead Books.

First he checked out the current bestsellers:

Then he got a little confused by a card:

Finally, though, he found what he’d been searching for:

He was ecstatic, especially after watching me handsell a copy to a customer.

Soon enough it was time for us to bid one another farewell. He had two other stops to make before heading back to the Academy, and he wanted to get on the road. Our visit with the WeeKnight was one we will not soon forget, and hope that you’ve enjoyed this chronicle. He and I both recommend purchasing and reading KNIGHTLEY ACADEMY as soon as humanly possible, preferably from your local independent bookstore.

(Final note from Melissa: I don’t usually do this sort of thing. I don’t have a lot of time for things like blog tours and interviews; bookselling takes up most of the time that used to be used on blogging. However, for books I really love, I’m going to try to make an exception. KNIGHTLEY ACADEMY is the first of those. I highly recommend it.)

]]> http://www.kidliterate.com/2010/04/11/special-report-the-weeknight-tour-of-st-louis/feed/ 2 http://www.kidliterate.com/2010/04/02/fablehaven-by-brandon-mull/ http://www.kidliterate.com/2010/04/02/fablehaven-by-brandon-mull/#comments Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:59:58 +0000 Melissa http://www.kidliterate.com/?p=442 There’s this thing we booksellers do all the time: we sell books we’ve never read. We’re pretty sure they’re really good, and we’re pretty sure we’d enjoy them if we ever got to them, but for one or twelve reasons or another we haven’t. However, they seem to fit a niche, so sell them we do.

FABLEHAVEN was in that category for me until yesterday. And now it is not!

Brandon Mull is one of the authors Pudd’nHead has coming this spring, and I would like to review something by each of them on this blog between now and their appearance. Brandon’s not the first author we’re having, but I’ve actually chosen this book to kick off my new fantasy/otherworldly book club at the store, so I read it first and am thusly reviewing it first!

Now that I’ve read it, of course, I honestly can’t believe I missed out on it for four years. (And I want to read the sequels, which is a problem, because I barely have time for the first book in a series.) I’m really looking forward to discussing this with the kids (and having Brandon at the shop).

Kendra and Seth are being packed off to grandparents they barely know while their parents go on a cruise. They’ve never been to their grandparents’ house; no one in the family really has. They’re told their grandmother is away; their grandfather is a little odd and has a lot of rules they have to follow. When Seth breaks the rules (something he’s going to do a lot), they begin to learn the truth about their grandparents: they are caretakers of Fablehaven, a secret sanctuary for mythical creatures. Their grandfather brings them into the fold, but Seth’s continued overactive curiosity soon puts not just Fablehaven in danger, but also their family…and, possibly, the world.

I love the characters here. Kendra and Seth have an awesome, believable relationship, with exactly the right amount of bickering and affection. Lena, their grandfather’s housekeeper, may be my favorite character – except she has to vie with their grandfather. The setting unfolds slowly, with a great balance of secrecy and surprises. There are awesome moments of humor (wait until the fairy broker shows up). There ARE a lot of secrets here, so I don’t want to say much if you too have missed out on this great series. But this would be a great read-aloud for families – good adventure, good characters, a little mystery, a little creepiness, some humor, and some wonderful plotting. It’s good for kids reading up and for anyone who loves the SEPTIMUS HEAP books, GREGOR THE OVERLANDER, CHILDREN OF THE LAMP etc.

Now that I’ve read it, I’m even more eager to sell it.

(Incidentally, how I would handsell it was basically like this: “FABLEHAVEN is about what happens when siblings learn that their grandparents run a secret sanctuary for mythical creatures.” A lot of handsells are exactly that short; that one worked a lot. )

Melissa Marr

Holly Black

Cassandra Clare

Sharon M. Draper

Brandon Mull

Lauren Myracle

James Dashner

Charlie Higson

Louis Sachar

John Flanagan

Dan Gutman

Brent Crawford

Kristen Tracy

Stacey Kade

I know. I KNOW. I! KNOW!

However, coming soon:

–Reviews of their books

–Full event details

–Information about how you can order signed books through me, if you like, even if you don’t live anywhere near St. Louis

–Notification if I ever sleep

–A rundown of all the caffeine I’m consuming

–An update on my sanity

–Squee from my inner fangirl

And, maybe, someday, reviews of all the other awesome books I’m reading and selling (HEIST SOCIETY, GREEN, DRIZZLE, THIRTEEN DAYS TO MIDNIGHT, LIVING HELL, THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA, just to name a few).

(If only there were OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE ALSO SUPPOSED TO OCCASIONALLY POST HERE!)

Ahem.

These reviews are also going to be pretty short.

There will also be hardly any nonfiction, because I sell very few nonfiction picture books in the shop, so I haven’t had the same experience with those as I have with the fiction this year.

1. OTIS by Loren Long

2. THE SLEEPY LITTLE ALPHABET by Judy Sierra; illustrations by Melissa Sweet

3. THE CIRCUS SHIP by Chris Van Dusen

4. ARE YOU A HORSE? by Andy Rash
This book has one joke, but it’s a good one (which I will not reveal, because it’s on the last page). Roy is given a saddle for his birthday, and he has never seen one before (which is a little odd considering he’s basically dressed like a cowboy). Fortunately said saddle comes with instructions: 1. Find a horse. 2. Enjoy the ride. So Roy goes off looking for a horse, working his way through many different living creatures in the process (and learning something from each one). I LOVE Rash’s art, too. This one’s a favorite in my house as well as in the shop.

5. THE LION AND THE MOUSE by Jerry Pinkney
I am assuming that you have all seen this magnificent, beautiful achievement by one of the finest children’s book illustrators to ever walk the earth. If this doesn’t (finally, belatedly) earn him the Caldecott Medal he has long deserved, I suspect I will not be the only unhappy reviewer/reader/blogger/bookseller out there.

6. THE CURIOUS GARDEN by Peter Brown
A quietly lovely book about a little boy who discovers a small patch of green on top of the railroad tracks in the dingy, brown place where he lives. He begins to tend to the green, eventually growing a garden, which inspires others to grow their own. Slowly, across the city, the gardens spread. With its basic message of “act locally,” this book is very close to my heart.

7. ALL THE WORLD by Liz Garton Scanlon; illustrations by Marla Frazee
This is such a beautiful book. My 3 year old daughter wasn’t enraptured by it, but I think it works best either with someone younger (who is listening more to the cadence than the story) or someone older (and a little more capable of conscious thought about the world at large). This is the kind of book I often sell to a grandparent – often grandparents come in asking me for “something new and beautiful” that might be saved forever. This is definitely that book. This is also the perfect book to give your picture book-loving adult friend or relative.

8. 14 COWS FOR AMERICA by Carmen Agra Deedy; illustrations by Thomas Gonzalez
This book is based on the true story of a Masaai man named Kimeli who returned to his Kenyan village after 9/11, bringing with him the story of what happened that day. The villagers are so moved by the story and wonder what they can do for the people of the US. Kimeli offers his prize cow – a generous, symbolic gift as to the Masaai, the “cow is life.” In the end, fourteen cows are given as a gift. This is one of those stories that we don’t often hear about, making it the perfect story to be turned into a picture book. “No nation is so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.”

9. THE CHRISTMAS MAGIC by Lauren Thompson; illustrations by Jon Muth
Jon Muth’s illustrations alone are enough to get just about any book into one of my “best of” lists. When you pair them with Lauren Thompson’s delicate story, this book becomes my favorite “pretty” Christmas book of the last…well, several years, at least. Santa Claus (dressed all in midnight blue in a lovely variation on what has become tradition) is preparing for the arrival of the Christmas magic, and the book takes you step by step with him through everything that leads up to Christmas Eve. He selects a toy for each child, because he knows what each wants most, and loves them all (there’s no “good list” and “bad list” here). He grooms the reindeer, and polishes the sled, and carefully, quietly, lovingly welcomes in the magic of the season as he always has and always will. This got added to my personal Christmas book collection immediately.

10. PRINCESS BESS GETS DRESSED by Margery Cuyler; illustrations by Heather Maione.
There is always a need for a sparkly pink princess book, but I truly cannot abide selling them if the sparkly pinkness masks a mediocre story. Not the case here – this is delightful, and my customers agreed with me. Princess Bess has a day filled with obligations, and must change her clothes for each one. Finally at the end of the day she is free to retire to her room, where she strips off her finery and dances around the room in her favorite outfit of all – a set of simple cotton underwear. The rhymes are good, the art is good, and the extensive fashion display is sure to please fans of FANCY NANCY as well as little girls who just love dressing up.

11. LLAMA LLAMA MISSES MAMA by Anna Dewdney
I am a big fan of the LLAMA LLAMA books, both as a bookseller and as a mother. This one was especially timely for me as my daughter started preschool this past fall, and that’s what this book is about. We got a lot of mileage out of “Don’t forget when day is through, she will come right back to you!” which is what the teacher tells Little Llama when he gets sad and misses his mama. Also, it’s just fun to say “llama” over and over and over and over again.

12. RHYMING DUST BUNNIES and HERE COMES THE BIG, MEAN DUST BUNNY! by Jan Thomas
I think you either think Jan Thomas’s books are hilarious, or not. There’s no in-between. I am definitely in the former category. (A BIRTHDAY FOR COW is so beloved in our house that every family member can be heard yelling “A TURNIP!!” occasionally.) I LOVE the dust bunnies. In the first book, Ed, Ned and Ted, the dust bunnies, rhyme all the time: “What rhymes with car?” “Far!” “Jar!” “Tar!” “Look!” says their friend Bob. As the others try to educate Bob on proper rhyming technique, it becomes apparent that Bob is trying to deliver a message to the others. Will they listen before it’s too late? The second book has the dust bunnies attempting to placate (and, eventually, befriend) the big, mean dust bunny they’ve encountered.

The illustrations might have you thinking that these books are best for younger toddlers, but the humor’s more sophisticated than that. Molly liked hearing A BIRTHDAY FOR COW when she was 2 1/2, but now that she’s a little past three, she truly finds it funny.

13. FELICITY FLOO VISITS THE ZOO by E.S. Redmond
Redmond tells the tale of little Felicity Floo, who infects an entire zoo full of animals because she uses her hand to wipe her runny nose rather than a tissue, and for some reason (you must suspend your disbelief here), you are allowed to pet every single animal in this zoo. She leaves teeny tiny little green handprints all over the animals, and begins an epidemic so large they name it after her. The whimsical Edward Gorey-esque illustrations fit the story perfectly, and, of course, it sends a very timely message in a brand new way.

14. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Clement C. Moore;  illustrations by Rachel Isadora
Isadora pairs her awesome African-inspired art (LOVE Santa’s white dreadlocks) with Moore’s classic poem to create yet another book of hers that had to go on my home shelf immediately. Bonus: as I said to one of my favorite customers (who shares my sarcastic sense of humor): “I didn’t know that people of color celebrate Christmas too!” (This customer is African-American and we often discuss the dearth of books for children that aren’t about slavery or civil rights or athletes or drugs.) Never is the whitewashing of children’s publishing more evident than when the Christmas books start to arrive. I’d like to think that many more will follow this, but history has me rolling my eyes at the very idea.

15. NEVER SMILE AT A MONKEY by Steve Jenkins
This book has the creepiest back cover of any picture book, ever. Jenkins uses his trademark paper collage art to instruct the reader about what not to do should you encounter certain animals. Since he often has more than one book published per year, I feel like Jenkins must have a sort of picture of Dorian Gray, asleep, in his attic – how else could he make so much art out of teeny tiny pieces of paper? I have never been less than impressed with his art, and the information contained within the books is always top-notch as well. This book is no different and will certainly please animal lovers, especially those who have a taste for the slightly scarier side of nature.

16. DINOTRUX by Chris Gall
Honestly, this idea is so obvious that I can’t believe no one ever thought of it before, but that’s also what makes it brilliant. This imagines that before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, there were Dinotrux! The Dumplodocus…the Semisaur…the Blacktopadon. So simple, so clever, so funny. Absolutely fantastic, bold art. Great cover. This was on many, many in-store wish lists this past holiday season, and I love the way little boys’ eyes light up when they see it.  Dads are also usually pretty gleeful when they pick it up, like the little boy inside of them can’t wait to turn the pages. Sometimes a book is pure fun to sell and this book has been one of those for me.

And…that’s it! I am sure I forgot something, and if I remember what it is, I will add it to this post another time. Let me know if I seem to have missed something that you think is amazing!

A week never goes by that I do not have a customer telling me that they are reading the HARRY POTTER books aloud to their 5 or 6 year old child, and the pride in their voice is always evident. Using HARRY POTTER as a sign that a child was ready for long read-alouds or that they are an advanced reader annoyed me when the books were still in publishing process, and now that the series is finished, I am even more over it than before. Eight times out of ten, when I ask a parent what kind of book their child enjoys or what they’ve read lately, the answer is “Well, they’ve read all the Harry Potter books.” (The other two times the answer is “Well, they’ve read all the WIMPY KID books,” but that is a rant for another post.) (And honestly, pretty much every kid reads the HARRY POTTER books – so that doesn’t tell me much about anyone’s reading preferences.)

If you are reading HP to your kids before you have read them the RAMONA books, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, the FUDGE books, most of Cynthia Rylant, A CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE, STUART LITTLE, and most of Roald Dahl, just to name a fraction of the available books, then your kids are not ready for HP. Shorter books do not equal bad. It is okay to finish a read-aloud quickly. It is okay to tell your child that they are not old enough for HP yet. And at six years old, they’re just not old enough. Why the need to jump ahead? Why not start with books that are meant for kids their age or closer to their age?

Some reasons, not in order of importance, of why kids should wait for Harry:

1. The majority of these parents ultimately come back and tell me that they have had to stop reading the series (usually right around book 3) because their child got scared. Usually these parents did not listen to my careful, polite warnings that this would happen. There is no way around the fact that Voldemort starts picking off Harry’s friends and family one at a time, and that this gets worse, not better. The HP books are amazing, yes. I am and always will be a giant HP nerd. But the books run the gamut from scary to downright terrifying; the darkness gets darker and darker with less and less reprieve as the series winds to a close. Somehow while watching Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson grow up, a lot of us seem to have forgotten that these books are aimed at a middle-grade (and up) readership. This leads me to number

2. While children of that age are ripe for the worlds of make-believe (which is why so many parents want to read them HARRY POTTER), they are not ready to process the idea that all fantasy worlds are not created equal. While they are certainly ready for the happier things in HP – deep friendship, magic, humor, magical creatures, mystical objects, education, love, loyalty, etc – they are not ready to process HP’s darker themes of racism, classism, abuse, hatred, death, war, self-loathing, self-doubt, betrayal, and pure evil.

3. If they hear HP aloud at a young age (especially if it ultimately scares them), there is a decent-to-good chance they will not go back and read the books to themselves when old enough to process them in their entirety.

4. There are, at last count, about ninety billion trillion other books to read to them first. Books that satisfy that need for magic and make-believe without the darkness that HP wraps those things in. Books that a lot of kids are skipping, or having skipped for them.

PLACES TO START (I’m listing fantastical stories only, since this is a “please wait for HP” post):

WINNIE THE POOH. Disney has caused practically an entire generation to forget that the books are about forty-five trillion times better than the animated cartoons.

TOYS GO OUT by Emily Jenkins, which joined the ranks of classic read-alouds immediately upon publication. This story of three toys who live in a little girl’s bedroom and have adventures has never failed me. No, it is not just like TOY STORY, I promise. It is actually nothing like TOY STORY. It is the number-one bestselling children’s book in our shop.

A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON and sequels by Michael Bond. A great many of you adults missed this charming British series about a sweet bear from Peru who gets found in Paddington Station with a tag on his coat reading “Please look after this bear. Thank you.” The family that finds him does indeed look after him, and gets a handful of fun and trouble in the process.

THE CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE by George Selden, in which a hungry country cricket jumps into a New Yorker’s picnic basket and winds up in Times Square. His adventures with Tucker Mouse, Harry Cat, and Mario, the boy who discovers him in the subway newsstand owned by his parents, have stuck with me my whole life.

THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE and sequels by Beverly Cleary. (I will gently remind those who might argue that this is not a fantasy that the main character is a talking mouse.)

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING by Astrid Lindgren. The Lauren Child-illustrated read-aloud edition that came out a few years ago is fantastic.

TIME AT THE TOP by Edward Ormondroyd – no one has ever heard of this book, but it’s so good. Purple House Press reissued it, bless them. Susan discovers that the elevator in the building where she lives can actually take her back into the past.

THE LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY books by Cynthia Rylant, beginning with THE STORM. Utterly charming series about a cat who’s a lighthouse keeper and the shipwrecked dog and mice who become her family.

NO FLYING IN THE HOUSE by Betty Brock. Annabel Tippens is cared for not by parents, but by a talking dog named Gloria. When a wicked cat named Belinda tells Annabel that she’s actually half-fairy, Annabel must choose between her old life with Gloria and a new life filled with magic.

THE TALE OF DESPERAUX by Kate DiCamillo. Please, please read the book before you show your children the movie. The story of a large-eared mouse, the princess he loves, a light-loving rat and a dim servant girl is one of the most magical stories ever written.

THE DOLL PEOPLE and sequels by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin with fabulous illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Brian Selznick. It is, I would venture to say, impossible not to love these talking dolls and their adventures.

anything by Edward Eager; I like to start with HALF MAGIC. Children discover a coin that is magic – well, half magic, anyway. This makes its wish-granting powers a…little hard to predict. Charming, charming, charming.

Laurel Snyder’s Edward Eager-inspired ANY WHICH WALL. Four children discover a wall that can take them to any place, in any time. Also super charming, and a worthy homage to the above.

MY FATHER’S DRAGON by Ruth Stiles Gannett, in which the narrator’s father runs away to rescue a baby dragon on a faraway island.

Kids get rushed through so many things nowadays. Don’t rush them past some of the greatest read-alouds ever written. And if you have a young, high-level reading child (6, 7, 8), I would offer the same advice that I offer for read-alouds. It’s okay for your child to go through books very quickly. It doesn’t matter how quickly they read – there are plenty of books that are more appropriate for their emotional maturity than HP and other upper middle-grade books. If you have more suggestions, please put them in the comments!

(Not only would I wait on HP, I would wait on the Narnia books, Susan Cooper’s THE DARK IS RISING series, Lloyd Alexander’s PRYDAIN CHRONICLES, Rick Riordan’s PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, Angie Sage’s SEPTIMUS HEAP series, Madeleine L’Engle’s TIME QUARTET, Trenton Lee Stewart’s MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY series and just about every middle-grade fantasy series or standalone novel that you can think of.)

No, I wasn’t excited or anything. It’s just okay, I guess.  I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I feel lukewarm at best about that book.

(Did I mention it’s in the top ten bestselling books ever at Pudd’nHead?)

I cannot wait to have it framed and hanging on the wall. Yay Santa!

(But don’t think that lets you off the hook, Ms. George.)

1. CITY OF GLASS by Cassandra Clare, which I reviewed here. You may remember that in that particular review, I ate some crow over having originally rolled my eyes at hearing that a fanfic writer got a book deal. After spending almost the whole year reading other books, I still think that Clare’s Mortal Instruments trilogy has one of the best YA series endings I’ve ever read. I definitely wanted more Clary and Jace and Simon, but all of my major questions were answered and all the ends were tied up well enough. We consistently sell this series over and over again, and I’m always happy to put it in someone’s hands.

2. THE LAST OLYMPIAN by Rick Riordan, which I never did get around to reviewing because it came out at a really busy time and I barely had time to read it, let alone write about it. There are probably one or two reviews of this tiny little series roaming around the internet. You may have heard of it – Percy Jackson and the Olympians? (About to be made into a movie that I am skeptical about because the actors are so much older than their kid characters?)

Anyway. I knew going in that this was the last book, so I was prepared. I was prepared for it to end, and from reading the other four (and meeting Rick once), I felt that he would not let us down with the ending.

I was right.

I would like more of Percy’s story, but I feel that Rick did him justice, and did the readers justice. That story is over, and I am satisfied. I also knew very, very early that there would only be five, so I had a long time to get used to that fact. Also Rick has a new book coming next year, and while I have no idea what it’s about, who’s writing it is really what matters in this case.

3. FRONT AND CENTER by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Catherine lives close by to Children’s Book World, where I worked (and Sarah still works), so I was lucky enough to get to know her a little. We got in on the ground floor, so to speak, with the D.J. Schwenk books – and we were so lucky to discover them so early.  Sarah reviewed FRONT AND CENTER back in July, and when I finally read it in October, I learned that it was every bit as good as Sarah said it was. It is an incredibly satisfying close to D.J.’s story. And if you’ve yet to discover D.J. and her family and her world, the good news is that all three books are out so there is no waiting for you.

4. DRAGON SPEAR by Jessica Day George.

Pull up a chair, Jessica. (Can I call you Jessica?)

Okay, look. Here’s the deal. I know that you can finish DRAGON SPEAR and see that Creel’s story has a resolution, and that the dragons got a resolution and we have a happy ending and blah blah blah. And a trilogy is a nice round set of three, so you dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s and wrapped it up without staying at the party too long like so many others tend to.

COME BACK TO THE PARTY, JESSICA.

(I’m going to talk to the readers now. Try the appetizers!)

Back when I read the ARC of DRAGON SPEAR I insisted that you all go and read this series if you hadn’t yet. I am expecting, of course, that you listened to me, and that you’re all ready with your teeny tiny picket signs to wave at my little internet protest, right? “What do we want?” “MORE CREEL!” “When do we want it?” “NOW!”

I know that we have an uphill struggle here. Jessica’s got other stuff to contend with, like her publisher, and the fact that she’s been writing other awesome books, blah blah blah. But I believe that if we all hope with all our hearts we can influence this outcome. YES WE CAN.

(Okay, back to Jessica now.)

How are the pigs in blankets?

Look, Jessica – I’m going to read anything you write. (I just finished PRINCESS OF THE MIDNIGHT BALL and now, almost 12 months after publication, it has to go on my best of the year list.) If you write a fantasy where a bowl of oatmeal comes to life, I’m going to read it. And I’m going to read it whether there’s ever any more about Creel or not. I’m just saying, if you’re hanging around sometime in the future and you’re bored and don’t have anything else to write, I’d like some more, please. It was a really good party. I’d like to stay.

But if you move on to another party, I’ll come too. (Not in a stalkery way.) And thanks for Creel, because I really do love her, and I can’t wait to share her with my daughter in seven or eight years.

~

And that’s it – the endings to four series I loved, all hitting in the same year. I’m leaving these characters behind with a great deal of sorrow, but I can’t wait to see what these authors do next.