Summer of Fire

While I was in New York on the anniversary/ book trip, the fine people at Coteau Books (based in my beloved home province of Saskatchewan) sent me two intriguing looking books.  I picked up one of them, Summer of Fire, after finishing Keys to the Demon Prison Tuesday night, and briefly wondered if it was unfair to read it right after such a wonderful fantasy book.  But I decided to read it all the same, and can I tell you? I wasn't disappointed.


Karen Bass has woven the story of two troubled teenagers, in different times but the same city, together in a very engrossing way.  16 year old Del has been sent from Edmonton to Germany to visit her sister Cassandra and her husband Mathias for the summer.  She's a wild child and because of a lot of recent issues her sister and her parents think this might be the best temporary solution for her.  Del does not agree.
Simultaneously we get the story of quiet Garda, shunned by everyone around her for an incident not of her making but for which her town chooses to judge her for.  


Garda's story, compelling and devastating, is set in 1942-43 and she struggles both with Nazi party pressures, the war around her and her slow understanding of some of the horrors surrounding her.  You would think the comparison between these two girls would belittle Del's problems, but the story has been crafted so you still feel Del's sorrows as well, although she does get a titch overly angsty at times.   The Book Thief is the only other book I can think of (from recent memory anyhow), using sympathetic German characters set in World War II and showing the adversity of not agreeing with Nazi policies.  It's a fascinating view point, especially in this story with Garda's situation.


Dell becomes a lovable character of her own as well, and was surprised when I got weepy when her big scene takes place towards the end.  I was constantly impressed by how Karen Bass was able to have these significantly different stories co-exist and not have them take away from each other.  Obviously Garda's was a story of far more adversity, but at no point does it belittle Del, which I kept thinking it would.


This was a really lovely read, not something I was likely to run into on my own (as the hubby put it, the cover doesn't do it justice), and I would highly recommend it.


Summer of Fire, By Karen Bass
Published by Coteau Books,  October 2009

Fablehaven, Keys to the Demon Prison

So at long last...I've gotten my hands on the final Fablehaven book, I still have no idea why it's not in Canada yet, but my advice right now is go to New York to get it.  It's well worth the trip!

Brandon Mull has done a stand up job of ending this series.  So often authors let me down at the end, with oodles of exciting, leading up to big old boring or nonsensical let downs for endings.

Not so in Fablehaven.

From book number one onwards this has been one exciting, twisting, story full of surprises and great laughs.  It's getting the highest honour I can bestow on a YA or 9-13 book, it's going on the same shelf as Harry Potter.

What can I tell you about Keys to the Demon Prison other than you have to read it?  It has the best ever battle cry "Frito-Lay!", can you guess Doren and Newel have something to do with it?  There's a terrific new good guy, who has a fantastic Hero moment where I wanted to jump up and cheer.  Maybe one of my favorite parts (that I can tell you about anyhow) is at the end Brandon Mull does a run down of what he's up to now, tells you specifically about his next release (the Beyonders 2011), as well as addresses the "more Fablehaven" question (maybe, though this story is wrapped up).  Why don't all authors do this?! It made me twice as excited, and less disappointed by the fact I had no more Fablehaven left.

I took a moment last night, as I was falling asleep, to think about why I'm such a sucker for the epic, fantasy, quest stories like Fablehaven.  I think it has a lot to do with the anything is possible element, you live with that belief growing up and it makes an everyday world more magical simply because you believe it can and will be whatever you want it to be.  As you grow up the mundane aspects of life (9-5 jobs, bills, dealing with phone companies etc.) can suck away some of that belief.  And except for those magical days when you daydream about winning the lottery, or you get some surprising happy news, being "realistic" can suck the magical fount of belief quite dry.  Stories like Fablehaven help to remind me to be starry eyed and believe in the crazy if for no other reason then it's fun, and everything in life shouldn't be realistic or even practical.  Hell if I want to believe I might one day still turn out to be a fairy princess who's really really rich, then I'm just going to nurse the dream and help it grow (but maybe not mention it out for drinks with friends, I don't want to end up in an asylum after all). 

Get your magical glow on, read this series next, you won't be disappointed.

Fablehaven, Book 5:Keys to the Demon Prison, By Bradon Mull

Published by Shadow Mountain, March 2010

The Astonishing Life fo Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol.1: The Pox Party

In my constant trickle of incoming books, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (etc.) landed on my shelf about 2 1/2 months ago.


I usually have about 15- 20 books hanging around in the to-be-read area of my extensive bookshelves, and what I read next is often based on whim. But at the Ad Astra panel I attended, Octavian Nothing was briefly alluded to as one of the few literary YA novels recently published (in the context of does literary YA sell? P.S.-yes, but rarely to publishers), and this suitably sparked my interest to make it next on my actual reading pile


The first thing I must say about this book is, it's not a light read. Dealing with slavery, antiquated science and the American civil war, all in the language of the time and with a very challenging vocabulary, it's more akin to ploughing through Shakespeare when you were 14 then your average casual read. Since the majority of the population managed Shakespeare, one way or another (Coles notes anyone?), I have faith that with the use of a dictionary, or Wikipedia, most readers can manage the language. The story may be another matter.


I alternated between fascinated and having to force my eyes open from boredom. It was a weird dichotomy but it seemed to stem from the two divergent (but not really) storylines in the book. The first is the one telling Octavians life and history, by stages you come to realise he is both black, and unbeknownst to him, a slave. His mother says she's a captured African princess and they are treated well, albeit oddly, in their home The Novanglian College of Lucidity, where they are more experiments then slaves. The second story line follows the American Civil War, which creeps gradually into the story until it is the primary aspect of it by the end. It was this part I found very dull, possibly because it was told almost entirely from a rotating point of view of others who aren't part of the original story. But also largely due to the fact that Octavian becomes a secondary character by this point, and since I was more interested in him and his experience than the actual civil war it meant I really lost interest in where the story was wandering off too.


All of this being said, at the very ending the story came back to Octavian and his plight as a black slave during the civil war and re-captured my interest. So I'll reserve my final judgment on that part of the story arc until I've read the second part to the series the Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation Volume II: Kingdom of the Waves (maybe it was going somewhere after all? just to be continued??).

To date Volume one has won numerous awards; it is a one of kind book in many ways. It opened my eyes to some of the more shocking aspects of slavery and racism of the time, and in general I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about historical matters. The initial part of the story is written in a really intriguing way, where you're not sure what's really happening most of the time, and there are a lot of surprising reveals about both Octavian, his mother and the scientists who surround them. So, although I found the last 100 pages or so really dull, I do highly recommend the story as a whole. Who knows, maybe volume two will redeem the parts of part one I didn't enjoy?


The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party, By M.T. Anderson
Published by Candlewick, September 2006

Oddities discovered in New York

So during my perusing at the Strand I ran into this book, Rhiannon by Vicki Grove.  Now my name is fairly unusual in Canada (outside of that terrible Fleetwood Mac song, ugh, yes I was named after it), but it's a very old celtic name which can be really prevalent in Wales.  So I run into it once in a great while in books, but by great while I mean like 3 times in my life (so although I shouldn't admit this, roughly every 10 years).  Needless to say it was surprising when I ran into a book actually called Rhiannon.  Because I had already bought ever so many hardcover books, and I still had to drag them around for a bit, I didn't pick this one up, although it sounded interesting.  Alas, shoppers remorse is the worst part of traveling!

Now this bag would have been an on the spot purchase if it had been in the New York Public Library Shop when I visited.  Look the library lion even has a pigeon on it's head!  How apropos.  Kudos goes to the fact it's made from recycled plastic as well.  But mainly its a super cute bag (also comes in blue) which would be perfect to carry books around in, which I do on a daily basis.

Speaking of the New York Public Library again, the entry to the reading rooms on the top floor had this great quote on the entry.  The Hubby kindly pointed out the author needed some spell checking, ha ha.  Got to love old english.


Finally if you're looking for that great gift for the bookish loved one who has everything might I suggest one of two unique NYC gifts?

Firstly, these too-rich-for-my-blood but beautiful and classy bookends of the NYC public library lions. Priced at 135$ for the marble ones and 165$ for the wood and metal ones, they're not outrageous (as long as you don't plan to ship them anywhere!) but they were a bit pricey, not to mention heavy, to just casually pick up while strolling the city.

Secondly, Books of Wonder is currently showing limited prints of the original artwork for Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Beautifully done, these prints were pretty affordable and would make a super, one of a kind, gift for the fan in your family.  Want to make it even more special? Give it with a signed copy of of one of Rick Riordan's Olympian books also available at books of wonder.  Or be really canny and get it signed yourself at one of his upcoming tour stops for the Red Pyramid!

I Heart NYC Bookstores

And customs will surely discover it when they open my suitcase and find over a dozen new books.

Although Toronto has  a lot of bookstores, many of which I love very very much, I have to say... New York deals out bookstores in style.  Of the 5 or more bookstores (Indies, not Barnes and Nobles) we hit in our first two days here, not one of them was junky or dirty.  Not one of them smelled like fast food or had moths from the dust on the shelves.  Big or small they were classy and tidy, and I found stuff I wanted to buy at basically everyone of them; thank god I was able to hold back some or by now I'd have 30 new books and not twelve.

My absolute favorite was the Strand.  18 miles of books is their logo, and four floors of approximately 10 foot high shelving stuffed with books makes me think they're possibly underestimating the milage.  They seem to be mostly like Toronto's BMV Books, in that they largely carry sell off books at a greatly reduced prices from the cover price and with a sprinkling of used books as well, but prettier and better organized.  The staff was knowledgeable and plentiful.

I won't lie, I wanted to buy everything they sell, from the stunning rare and old books, to the the pencils with their logo on it.  To date I've bought a mug and 8 of my 12 books there, and we've loved it so much we've been twice.  Their sections are all very impressively sized, the YA is the single biggest I've seen anywhere.  Plus they have a bathroom, which is a bonus in any bookstore as you can honestly spend ridiculous amounts of time mulling over books if you're anything like me.

My next favorite was Books of Wonder, a childrens and YA only store.  Now why are there not more of these??  Crawling with parents and their young bibliophiles, our sunday visit proved there's a market world round for this type of store.
Books of Wonder has been on my radar for quite sometime, Tamora Pierce actually credits them in her acknowledgments.  But last time I was here was what started my re-entry into YA, and I actually only bought historical books about New York while here, and didn't even venture down to Books of Wonder.

I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, so we've visited twice, and we weren't disappointed.  A beautiful little store on a side street in Chelsea, Books of Wonder has almost anything you could be looking for in YA and children's literature.  Their only hole, that I could find, other than oddly not having complete sets of a lot of series, was they didn't have Fablehaven!  Shocking but true.  And although some of their staff are supremely knowledgeable, they did have two staff members who were completely lost.  One who had no idea what Fablehaven was, and one who had no idea what The Sisters Grimm was (apparently I should be moving to New York specifically to enlighten these folks).  Other than those two blips our stop at wonder books was really pleasant...and included delicious cup cakes from the cup cake cafe!  Major book shopping bonus.  Also because of their numerous author signings and drop ins, they have lots of signed copies of books, all for sale for the flat cover price!

Alrighty, the last place I want to rave about isn't technically a bookstore, but it may be the best of all the book homes in all of New York City... The NYC Public Library.  The beautiful main branch on 42nd was my destination to get a taste of NYC's library system.  Although likely the most beautiful library branch, it also houses impressive collections:

Often referred to as the "main branch," the magnificent Beaux-Arts landmark building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street is not a branch with circulating collections at all (except for an outstanding Children's Center), but rather houses the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Here are the Library's rich and diverse collections in the humanities, social sciences, and special collections. These non-circulating graduate-level collections were initially formed from the consolidation of the Astor and Lenox Libraries, and have evolved into one of the world's preeminent public resources for the study of human thought, action, and experience -- from anthropology and archaeology, to religion, sports, world history, and literature.

Completed in 1911, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building currently houses some 15 million items including a children's area, genealogy collection, rare books, manuscripts, japanese scrolls and even comic books!   The ball and chain couldn't understand why I wanted to visit a public library on vacation so we only made a brief visit including the genealogy collection and impressive reading rooms (and of course the store!).  Once inside he quickly agreed that it was an impressive stop on our itinerary.  To have the reason and time to sift through those collections would be a pleasure, though the constant stream of lookey-loos might get irritating.


Would I recommend these three wondrous book abodes for your next trip to NYC?  Most indubitably.  Keep in mind that we did go in a good half a dozen other books stores around town, all of them really great independent shops often specializing in something specific such as rare books, art books social activism books, etc.  Beyond all the other marvels of Manhattan, I can guarantee any books store visits should be the top of your list next time you're there.

A quiet week

I must apologize for my very quiet week. 10 hours a day of walking, visiting and then the fun of air travel and customs on the way home, have all conspired to exhaust me beyond reason.  Then just as I thought I could settle in back at home and get some rest... the house next door had a faulty Ipod charger set it on fire. A really, really BIG fire.
No jokes, late thursday night. Pretty scary, but except for some house debris scattered across our yard, some smoke smears on some of the windows, and a lot of construction dudes trying to overtake our property in the quest to selvage the neighbors, we came out unscathed (well I have some large scratches from trying to cram freaked out cats into carriers in case it spread).  Needless to say this is the first, somewhat restful day I've had in about a week, and I still had to do the mundane stuff like buying groceries and washing cats (seriously, Topaz was filthy! left a dirt pond in the tub, she's an indoor cat where does she find that much dirt??!).
So... the good news? I'm still reading! Although the blogging has been light this week I can promise reviews in the next week of both Octavian Nothing, and the final Fablehaven!! 
Yay!  
I'm currently a third of the way in and it's a smorgasbord of fun and adventure, that seems to broker no disappointment to it's loyal readers.  I love a well planned out, twisty, turny adventure and so far Fablehaven has aced it.
I also have a nearly completed blog from our time in new york about some of my book adventures in the city.  And finally the lovely people at Coteau books have sent me two interesting books, Summer of Fire and Fishtailing, which were here to greet me upon my return from NYC.  So all of this coupled with my fantastic book haul in the Big Apple should keep things interesting for awhile.  Hopefully in an interesting enough way that you can forgive me my absence this past week!

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

The Hubby and I celebrate one year of putting up with each other in the matrimonial state today, and to congratulate ourselves we flew out to NYC on friday, where we have been killing ourselves by walking an average of three miles a day, overeating with exuberance and buying loads of books and carrying said books around with us all day long.  Why buy early and take them back to the abode when you can get your exercise by lugging them around?


We planned to hit up the famed Books of Wonder, the possibly even more famed The Strand, and anything else that suggested it sold books.  On my list to not leave the states without was the final Fablehaven which has been mysteriously absent in Canada despite it's March release date in the states, and anything else spectacular and difficult to find or cheap due to the whole on parr exchange deal.


Apparently I have an uncanny sense for bookstores because in the first few hours here, while meandering Chelsea aimlessly, we found Books of Wonder and then the The Strand, without even knowing where they were located!  Of course my uncanny sense did not lead me to wise choices, as the hubby stumbled upon the shiny new The Sisters Grimm of which I didn't even realize had been released, and which I ended up not buying once I couldn't find Fablehaven.  Alas, when I went back to buy it (mysteriously not finding it at Barnes and Noble when I found Fablehaven) I found out it was only out briefly as a mistake and it's release is not till May 1st, ARGH!!!!


I have bought a whole bevy of beautiful new books though (despite my The Sisters Grimm disappointment) most of which are either signed by the author or were uber inexpensive at the fantastic and wonderful The Strand (18 miles of books, be still my heart).


Tomorrow I will talk a little about the book stores i hearted in NYC, tonight I leave you with a little picture of my stash (two of them belong to the hubby); think of all the great reviews these books will generate!

The New Olympians book has a title!

Rick Riordans new Olympians series has a publishing date and a title, announced earlier today on his website Myth and Mystery.
The new series is called The Heroes of Olympus and the first books title is The Lost Hero.
Disney-Hyperion will be releasing it October 12, 2010.

The only details are the following description from the press release:

After saving Olympus from the evil Titan lord, Kronos, Percy and friends have rebuilt their beloved Camp Half-Blood, where the next generation of demigods must now prepare for a chilling prophecy of their own:


Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.


Now, in a brand-new series from blockbuster best-selling author Rick Riordan, fans return to the world of Camp Half-Blood. Here, a new group of heroes will inherit a quest. But to survive the journey, they’ll need the help of some familiar demigods.

This fall is going to be crazy with great new books; I might accidentally wish my summer away in anticipation of them all!

Need- do you need to read it?

So I recently bought Need for my good friend in reading, Jenna, for her b-day.  Stumped as Stephenie Meyer meets Stephen King type literature it sounded pretty damn perfect for this particular gift.  After reading it she leant it to me so we could share and discuss, a favorite past time.

I read it, and on saturday night we exchanged impressions of it.  Like usual we felt pretty much the same way, the story had an interesting plot line but it could have been darker.  I mean come on, when you throw Stephen King in for comparison you expect some pretty creepy page turning.  That being said, it was a page turner, and the ending suggests that book two, Captivate, might hold a little more promise.

Without giving away any spoilers, let me try and give you an idea of what this book is about.  Zara is heartbroken by the sudden heartattack death of her stepfather, and in her misery is sent to her Grandmothers to hopefully recuperate.  Unfortunately it turns out the backwoods of Maine is the least safe place she could be sent.  The pointing man, he has a need, and until Zara comes to him he'll fulfill it by absconding with local teenage boys who never return.  Sounds a bit pedophile like right? That's what I thought.

My main issues with the book is she took an interesting and potential creepy plot line and fluffed it up with a too easy love interest and simplistic discoveries and solutions; lets just say one moment of googling something shouldn't instantly explain what your creepy pointing man is.  Nothing ends up seeming risky enough or as dangerous as it  ought to.  And lets face it, the best love interests are the ones fraught with difficulties and impossibility, make it too easy and it's just your average relationship.

The little preview of Captivate at the end suggests Carrie Jones might have been saving the real story for book two, however.  Thus I'm happy to continue reading to find out if she can live up to her hype and pull this story into the land of more formidable writers.  As it stands now this book is just one of the many attempts to re-create the Twilight experience.  Love interest + Small town + Teenagers + Some type of other beings does not equal automatic literary genius; lets face it I'm not looking for formula in my reading, and I'm guessing neither are you.  

Need, By Carrie Jones

Published by Bloomsbury, December 2009

For more reviews, visit:

The Story Siren

Books by Their Cover

Writing the Young Adult Novel

Alrighty, so I made all my preparations, and headed on down to Ad Astra this past Saturday morning, to meet Ms Tamora Pierce, only to have a million issues getting there and signing in; and then turns out she was sick and couldn't make it!


Alas the running theory about me and my bad luck is that I must have been one awful S.O.B in a past life!


The Happy news is the panel she was supposed to be part of was still very interesting (despite her absence) and I came away with some enlightening information on the subject of writing the Young Adult Novel.


Alison Baird (The Dragons Egg, The Hidden World, The Wolves of Woden, the Willowmere Chronicles, White as the Waves, and The Dragon Throne trilogy), Adrienne Kress (Alex and the Ironic Gentleman and Timothy and the Dragon's Gate), Lesley Livingston (Wondrous Strange and Darklight) and Kelley Armstrong (Darkest Powers series, and Women of the Otherworld series) participated with Kelley Armstrong Moderating. Although I haven't read any of these four authors works two of them had been on my radar to pick up soon (Kelly Armstrong, and Lesley Livingston), and even though I hadn't heard of either Alison Baird or Adrienne Kress I am now eager to pick up their works as well.


Fun note: Adrienne Kress, Lesley Livingston, and Kelly Armstrong are all Canucks! Yay Canada!


Now keep in mind I did not bring a voice recorder so although I attempted to write all comments as accurately as possible (exact same wording) I am not writing them out as quotes in case of errors (all of which are my own and should not be attributed to any of the Authors).


The YA genre has finally become popular with publishers! Kelley Armstrong made the comment- her YA books currently out sell her adult books 2-1.


On Censorship to their story lines:
All four women agreed almost anything is a go in YA literature these days although...
Lesley Livingston- Fairies don't just run around dropping F-bombs
Kelley Armstrong- You'll be advised by your publishers that it may affect your sales in the Southern United States
The general consensus was you should be true to your characters when it came to the biggies (sex, drugs, booze and swearing), and Alison Baird mentioned she tries to steer clear of swearing for moral issues. All agreed you should keep it real, and since all of the biggies are prominent in teenage life it would be wrong to ignore them completely.


On how to write from a teenage perspective when you're not that age:
Kelley Armstrong- Once you tap into it you realize it's not that deeply buried.
Lesley Livingston- The age group has hyper sensitivity, everything is heightened, and everything is life or death.
Adrienne Kress- it is the practice of writing about firsts, first kiss, first rejection, first everything, as opposed to the seconds, so nothing has the same perspective to it you have after the first time around.
All the ladies agreed, generally speaking you write about your own experience (which largely isn't the popular girl experience) and it will ring true with your readers who are generally living the same experience despite the time change. Everyone agreed, that is, until it was pointed out Lesley Livingston was a cheerleader in High School.
Lesley Livingston- I was and oddball Cheerleader!


On what to write to write successfully:
Adrienne Kress- Age 18-21 is no mans land for protagonists, no one will publish it.
Kelley Armstrong- You have to like and respect your audience (i.e.: teenagers) otherwise don't bother.
All of the ladies agreed Fantasy has a lot in its favour for YA and middle school (9-12) readers.
Alison Bard- 12 year olds don't normally pick up Dickens or Jane Eyre but they're very likely to pick up Lord of the Rings, despite it being an adult book.
Kelley Armstrong- Teens like to read up, so if your protagonist is 15 it mean’s you’re pulling in 12 year olds so they're part of your market. The rule of thumb is round up two years, if you want 15 year olds, make your protagonist 17.
Everyone agreed it doesn't mean you won't get a whole variety of ages (think twilight moms); it was just a tool to understand you market.
Lesley Livingston pointed out - J.K Rowling was the first ever writer to start a series as a middle school series but to end up as a YA series. (Growing with the reader)
Adrienne Kress- The last year has seen publishers focus on teen girl paranormal. That doesn't mean you should write it to guarantee a sell. Publishers are always off on the prediction of the next big thing, after Harry Potter they wanted more Harry Potter, than Twilight came along! Now everyone wants the next Twilight, who knows what will beat it.


Speculation then went on between the ladies about if it would be Angels, Faeries, or Werewolves.
Kelley Armstrong- A Fairy, an Angel, and a Werewolf walk into a bar....


Finally it was commented on by all the ladies, currently there’s virtually no interest in publishing for YA boys, all marketing is targeted to teen girls and Kelley Armstrong commented that since her books are about Necromancy and have all sorts of violence and Zombies she thought for sure they would qualify for boys. Unfortunately everything is given girly covers only the very bravest boys would venture to buy, ruling out boy readers.


For more info on some of the Panels of the Con, including getting an agent, please visit Adrienne Kress's incredibly informative blog The Temp, The Actor and The Writer: The New YA.

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country- Review

In part two of the Zan-Gah series, Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, Dael and Zan decide to move their tribe the Ba-Coro, to the Wasp peoples territory- the Beautiful Country.

A simple trek for young men is a several months long, arduous journey for a tribe with both the young and old; but the beautiful country's resources and climate are well worth the effort.  Unfortunately on arrival it becomes clear that Dael has only participated in this adventure to get closer to the Noi, who he's obsessed with taking revenge upon.

More compelling than the first book, Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country has deeper charecter development and a larger cast than Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, and I found I was more involved with the story because of it.  The complications of living life in that time period are fascinating and Allan Richard Shickman has obviously thought about it and researched it a great deal.

With an ending as open as the first book, it seems likely there will be more Zan-Gah to come.  I look forward to it.

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, By Allan Richard Shickman
Published by Earthshaker Books, Sept 2009

Kindly sent to me by Earthshaker books.

Zan-Gah, A Prehistoric Adventure

Sent to me by the kind people over at Earthshaker books, Zan-Gah is the story of one boys exploits, growing up in prehistoric times.  After killing the man eater lioness plaguing their home, Zan sets out to find his lost twin Dael.  To find him, Zan must commune with the other tribes despite their historical animosity, he must trek through unforgiving, unknown lands, and most importantly he must grow into the man that killing the lioness has made him.

Despite the less than promising covers, Zan-Gah is an intriguing read, dealing primarily with the survival of primitive man.  It's fascinating to read something so different, Zan-Gah definitely breaks the YA vampire/immortal theme so prevalent the past four years or so.  I can't even think of the last time I encountered something that dealt with this time period.  And yet it seems like such a ripe story telling subject matter!

Not only an unusual subject matter, Allan Richard Shickman further tells the story 3rd person, giving it the feeling of a camp fire story of actual events.  This book is so unusual compared to anything I've read in years, that I would highly recommend it for that alone.  But I can almost guarantee any 11-13 year olds in your life will appreciate it as well.   

Allan Richard Shickman has followed Zan-Gah up this past fall with the continuation of the adventure in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country.  There's so much material here, Allan could be telling the adventures of Zan-Gah for some years to come.

Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure, By Allan Richard Shickman
Published by Earthshaker books, July 2007

Lady Knight, Book 4 of the Protector of the Small Quartet

In Lady Knight, the final book in the Protector of the Small Quartet series, Kel is faced with her first assignment as a knight... and it's a dozy. Build and command a refugee fort in the middle of a Warfield. Man it with just a trickle of help, and share the major responsibilities with two of her friends, fellow green, new, Knights Merric and Neal. Control, protect and garner the respect of some 400 refugees who believe they've been passed into your care because obviously nobody cares about their fate (I mean look who is set up to command them!).
On top of these already weighty responsibilities, Kel has additionally been instructed by the Chamber of Ordeal to find and kill Blayce, the mysterious source of King Maggur's horrifying killing machines.

All and all a soft start to her knightly career I would say.

As always though, Keladry of Mideland steps up to the plate. Not one to do things by halves, Kel takes on her new role with aplomb, and it's her success's, failure's and consistent struggle to do well by these people that makes the fourth book the best of the series. Add in her fabulous new charge Toby, some excellent new personalities in her group of refugees, and just the right mix of old friends doing amazing things because they believe in Kel, and you have the perfect finish to another great Tamora Pierce series.

Tamora has said that Lady Knight was greatly influenced by 9/11 as she was part way through writing it and living in New York when the day came to pass. I wouldn't have made the association without her mentioning it, but I believe the experience added to her story telling skills immeasurably. The way everyone comes together to pull off an impossible feat, the way Kel performs her knightly duties diligently but not without remorse, and the references to the goodness in others no matter what side their on all speak to more worldly author than the one who wrote the do-it-yourself Hero Alanna (who I still love by the way). But WAIT! I haven't even told you the best part yet! There's a cat! A great grey and peach coloured cat that saves the day. Jump and the sparrows are great, as always, but I love me a great cat.
Great books make you want to stand up and cheer, make you teary eyed, and in the end, make you wish you could join in and be a part of the fireworks. Lady Knight did all of this for me, and honestly, just thinking about it now leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Join me in the rosy afterglow... pick it up today and then come on back and let me know what your favourite part is.
Lady Knight, By Tamora Pierce
Published by Random House, August 2002

Squire, book 3 of the Protector of the Small Quartet

Although completing her Big Test to become a Squire was an enormous challenge due to her enemies at court, Kel is quickly discovering that being a girl squire is making it almost as difficult to get a Knight Master to train with for the next four years.  Worse still, Neal ends up with her dream canidate.  But as fortune would have it, this leaves Keladry of Midelan free to become squire to one of the most influential knights of the Realm.  Lord Raoul of Goldenlake, Commander of the Kings Own.

Of the four books the last two are my favorites.  They're action packed and cover some of the most interesting development time for both Kel and her friends.  I also really love the involvement of Raoul, a great side charecter in the Alanna Series that I always wanted to see more of.  In Squire, Kel is forever busy with raids, Immortals, and the busy work of the Kings Own until the Grand Progress starts.  From then on we get to see how the people are begining to love her as much as we do, and Kel finally gets to partake in some romantic girly moments that are well deserved after 6 long years of toughing it out with the boys.

Although no longer being taught by him, we still get moments of Kel and Lord Wyldon's complicated relationship, which are some of my favorite throughout the book.  As well as lots of time spent with Owen, Neal, Cleon, Kel also develops some memorable new relationships with Domitan, some old friends from the Yamani court and several others from the Kings Own.

Kels development and discovery's in this book are influential to what happens in the last, which  happens to be my absoloute favorite of the four, it's fun to watch her come into her own.  But whatever you do, don't stop here, because if you liked Squire you're going to love book four, Lady Knight!

Squire, By Tamora Pierce
Published by Random House, August 2001