Kidliterate

Special Report: The WeeKnight Tour of St. Louis

One of my favorite spring books is the fantastic KNIGHTLEY ACADEMY by Violet Haberdasher. I read it in galley form, very early, and couldn't wait for it to come out so I could sell it. It's always so fantastic to read a fantasy that is more about strongly developed characters and intricate plot than it is about making up lots of crazy new magical words. KNIGHTLY ACADEMY has some fascinating things to say about class relations, too, and features an awesomely feisty girl right alongside the varied male characters. It is an excellent read. 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.)

FABLEHAVEN by Brandon Mull

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. )