Category: Juvenile

The Graveyard Book Read-Along, Week One

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews18 Comments

This month, I’m participating in a read-along of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, as part of R.I.P.  We’re looking at a few chapters a week, with no specific questions for each post.  This week, a discussion on the first three chapters.

I’ve read The Graveyard Book before, but it’s been a few years and some of the details have gone fuzzy.  I do remember the shadowy feel of the book, and that I enjoyed it!  So I’m looking forward to digging into in greater depth.  (I suspect there’s a pun somewhere in that “digging in” phrase…but we’ll just move along…)

For those not familiar with the book, it tells the story of Bod, a living orphan who is being raised by a community of ghosts.  The first chapter describes how this situation came about, and the next two share a couple of Bod’s childhood adventures.

The first thing that struck me on picking this up again was the pictures.  The first few pages of each chapter are illustrated with wonderful black and white drawings that set the shadowy tone of the book so well.

Gaiman makes a very interesting choice by starting us out in the point of view of a murderer, the man Jack who killed Bod’s family.  What’s particularly remarkable is that he manages such a deft balance of starting us in an unbelievably horrible situation–but I don’t feel inclined to slam the book and walk away.  It is horrible, and it’s certainly dark and creepy (just the phrase “the man Jack” is so creepy), but it never quite becomes grotesque or too twisted.  And if you’ve read the Sandman graphic novels, you know Gaiman is capable of going there!  As it is, this sets up a wonderful darkness without scaring squeamish me off of the book.

I also love that it’s the living man who’s frightening–the ghosts are quite homey and pleasant.  They have a close community in the graveyard, with each ghost living in his or her respective crypt, all going about much the same community relations that they had in life.  And why not?

In Chapter Two, Bod makes a human friend, a little girl named Scarlett whose mother thought it made sense to bring her to play in a graveyard (a nature reserve, technically).  The two of them venture into a dark depth of the graveyard and encounter very strange and sinister creatures.  I enjoyed some of the contrast between Bod and Scarlett, but wish Gaiman had done more with that.  Ultimately they both end up not being afraid of what appears to be a monster–and I totally get that Bod is used to the strange and the supernatural, but I don’t understand why Scarlett, as a normal little girl, calms down remarkably quickly.  Perhaps I’m just meant to take her as being special too.

My favorite thing about Scarlett, though, is probably that she thinks Bod is an imaginary friend.  What a wonderfully fuzzy margin between reality and imagination!

In Chapter Three, Bod gets a new tutor, Miss Lupescu (whose name makes her secret fairly obvious), and ends up captured by ghouls.  The best thing about the ghouls is their names.  They all receive new names when they become ghouls, names which properly reflect the high esteem ghouls hold themselves in: names like “the famous writer Victor Hugo” or “the Bishop of Bath and Wells” or “the 33rd President of the United States.”  And they’re never shortened.

So far, the book is quite episodic, with each chapter almost a self-contained short story.  I do seem to recall, however, that threads begun in one place will come back in another, and it’s going to be fun to watch that weaving.  And the short story nature makes this good for a read-along!

Classic Review: Ella Enchanted

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, ReviewsLeave a comment

I’ve reviewed a lot of retold fairy tales on this blog.  One of the first was Ella Enchanted, and I still think it’s one of the best!

***********************************

Cinderella, in her traditional form, is a character who drives me absolutely up the wall.  Come on, woman—I know you lived in a pre-feminist culture, but don’t you have any backbone at all?  Your life’s awful—so do something about it!  And the fairy godmother—where was she all these years while Ella was being mistreated?  The fairy only shows up when the girl wants to go to a party?  (Because obviously that’s something of paramount importance.)

But, like all great fairy tales, Cinderella does have that spark of eternal appeal.  Who can’t relate to the dream of being lifted out of your ordinary or even unpleasant life, because that one person (the prince, the book editor, the boss for the dream job, the head of the club…fill in your own relevant personality) sees you and says, yes, you’re special above all others.  That’s the core of Cinderella.  But Cinderella herself is irritating.

So when you can take that eternal spark and improve on the character and the plausibility—well, as I said when discussing Wildwood Dancing, then you’ve got something.  And Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is one of the best retellings of Cinderella I’ve ever read.

Ella is cursed at her christening—if anyone gives her a command (from “eat this cake” to “go jump off a roof”) she has to obey it.  And with that one brilliant stroke, Levine has a heroine who, like the traditional Cinderella, does everything her wicked stepfamily tells her to do—but who also has a mind of her own.  No one could accuse Levine’s Ella of lacking backbone.  She obeys, but I don’t think I’d describe her as obedient.  She can think for herself and, as much as she can around the limits of her curse, takes control of her own life.

There’s a good plot, with ogres and adventures and a kind of quest in Ella’s search for a way to overcome her curse, but I think what mostly stands out in my mind are the characters.  Ella, of course.  And her fairy godmothers (both of them), her more-than-usually complex wicked stepfamily, her absentee father, and, of course, Prince Charmont—because what’s a Cinderella story without a true love, right?

Ella Enchanted probably belongs in the juvenile category, rather than young adult.  But, kind of like the original Cinderella, it has a wide appeal, even if you’re not really the target age group.

I unfortunately can’t quite just ignore the movie here.  There is one, but let’s all just pretend that there isn’t.  Don’t see it.  Really.  I did, and I think I spent most of it twitching and saying, “No, no, no, that’s wrong.”  Besides getting the details wrong, it got the spirit wrong, and while I can sometimes forgive a movie for changing the facts a little, it’s much harder to forgive a movie for maiming of the spirit of a story.

Because what Ella Enchanted really is is a very practical, plausible (once you accept the existence of magic) retelling of Cinderella.  The movie isn’t.  But the book is, and it’s well-worth the read.

Author’s site: http://www.gailcarsonlevine.com/

A Shadow of a Plot in a Shadow World

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews2 Comments

On my quest to finish series, I picked up The Shadow World by Jane Johnson, second book in the Eidolon Chronicles.  (Read my review of Book One, The Secret Country.)  The Eidolon Chronicles centers on Ben, an ordinary boy who finds out his mother is really the Queen of a magical country.  She came to our world to marry Ben’s father, but now they’ve discovered that in her absence, the magic is dying and the country is being taken over by the evil, dog-headed Dodman.

The second book picks up soon after the first.  Ben’s mother, Isadora, has resolved to return to her country to fight the Dodman.  Ben’s older sister Ellie follows her, and Ben and his father follow Ellie.  Isadora’s negotiations with the Dodman take a very difficult turn when he captures Ellie.  Ben and his friends, including Iggy the talking cat (my favorite character), have to go to the rescue.

This book was good for what it was and disappointing for what it wasn’t.  There was nothing exactly wrong with what was there, but there just wasn’t much.  As they say, there was no there there.  This felt very much like a sequel, especially one that’s Book Two of a trilogy.  It didn’t move anything much forward, either in plot or in character development.  Isadora goes back to the magic country at the very beginning, and a couple of villians join forces at the very end, and everything in-between felt mostly unnecessary to developing any larger story.  The main conflict was rescuing Ellie, but her capture felt contrived.

I don’t mean to make this an entirely negative review though.  The characters were still engaging, the magic was still interesting.  I just wanted more that was new.  I wanted the characters to be gaining more depth, or to encounter new and different magic.  There was a little of that, but it didn’t feel like enough.  We did get to know Ellie a bit better, and there was a little more of Awful Cousin Cynthia, who’s a great creepy villain.

This was a perfectly fun book, but it also seemed to lack any real purpose.  I’m still going to read the last book in the trilogy.  The first book introduced everything, and hopefully the third will tie everything up.  The second book probably just suffers from being, well, the second book of a trilogy, with no purpose except to mark time between the beginning and the end.  Still, if you read the first book and like it, it’s worth reading the second.  Just don’t expect too much, and plan to move quickly along to the third!

Author’s Site: http://www.janejohnsonbooks.com/

Other reviews:
Savage Reads
One Day at a Time
Anyone else?

A Castle with a Mind of Its Own

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews7 Comments

What if a castle was alive?  That idea is the big draw for me in Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George.

The castle of the title would be a very confusing place to live, but it’s great fun to read about.  The castle doesn’t talk and it rarely takes immediate actions like slamming doors, but it has a clear presence.  And it has a habit of changing itself when it’s bored, or wants to make a point.  So rooms shift around, new towers appear, and you never quite know where you’re going.  The castle also arranges and furnishes the rooms of its inhabitants to make some none-too-subtle points.  People the castle likes gets lovely rooms, while people the castle hates find their rooms getting increasingly smaller and more unpleasant.  The castle has to approve of each king and heir, and changes their rooms to reflect its feelings.  It’s all a wonderful concept.

We wander the castle with Celie, the youngest princess and the castle’s favorite.  The feeling is mutual; Celie’s greatest goal is to create an atlas of the castle (which strikes me as quite impossible, but good for her for trying). The plot gets into motion when Celie’s parents and older brother are ambushed on a journey and disappear, presumed dead.  Celie, her sister Lilah, and her brother (and crown prince) Rolf have to band together when conspiracies between the royal council and a foreign prince threaten their kingdom.  Fortunately, Celie and her siblings have the castle on their side…

This is a cute book aimed at a fairly young audience.  The characters are likable and well-defined, if not terribly complex.  Lilah is quite proper, Rolf is striving to live up to his role, and Celie is creative and daring and determined to fight back.  She’s a good heroine who I think younger readers will very much identify with and enjoy.

The plot moved along well, although the ending did feel ultimately a bit contrived and convenient.  Still, it’s the kind of happy ending I want from a kids’ book, so that’s a fairly mild complaint.

The castle was my favorite part.  The rest was a pleasant but not particularly striking kids’ fantasy novel.  The castle was the unique bit, and I’d love to see more stories with this setting!

I think this would be a great read for younger readers, and it’s fun for older readers too, if you’re looking for a light story without a great deal of depth.  It wasn’t irritatingly and unreasonable shallow, as some books are, but it does feel like it’s targeting kids.  Which is okay–it was a fun read!

Author’s Site: http://jessicadaygeorge.com/

Other reviews:
Charlotte’s Library
Raiding Bookshelves
Once Upon a Twisted Tale
Anyone else?

Following a Talking Cat to a Secret Country

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews1 Comment

I read The Secret Country by Jane Johnson years ago–at least, I have to believe my book list when it tells me I did!  It was a book that I really couldn’t remember anything about (which is rare), except just one scene.  I decided to pick it up again, so that I could decide whether to read the rest of the books in the Eidolon Chronicles, as part of my goal to finish partially-read series.

Even though this obviously didn’t make much impression the first time 😉 I enjoyed reading it this time through.  It’s a fun kids book of a particular type–ordinary young boy confronted with magic and called upon to save a magical world.  In this case, the boy is Ben, who buys a cat at the pet store when the cat starts talking to him, demanding to be taken home.  The cat, Iggy, explains that he’s from Eidolon, also called the Secret Country, which is being threatened by an evil would-be king.  Part of the problem is that their queen is missing…and guess who turns out to be the prophesied prince.

I think talking cats always win the day.  I’m a cat person, and I’m writing a novel with a talking cat, so I’m biased–but snarky, funny cats who say out loud everything we know cats are thinking all the time…always going to be great.  I also thought Iggy had a surprising amount of depth, as a “great explorer” who knows he isn’t really very good at his profession.

Ben is a likable if somewhat generic hero, and he’s surrounded by interesting magical creatures (besides Iggy, there’s a selkie and a dragon).  Together they have to battle some truly nasty villains, and I like the way people in our world turn out to be villains in Eidolon–and they turn into horrible and creepy monsters when they change worlds.  I’m also hoping that later books in the series will have more on Ben’s sister, who so far had a very small part but has potential.

One side-note on a random point–I can’t decide whether or not to enjoy the Neil Gaiman reference when Ben is reading the Sandman comics.  I mean…yay, Neil Gaiman reference!  But at the same time, Ben is WAY too young to be reading Sandman (as is the target age group of this book).  That series was too twisted for me, and Ben is a kid.  If you’re going to reference Neil Gaiman, make it an age-appropriate book.

On the whole, a light but enjoyable read.  I am left with a question, though–the scene I thought I remembered wasn’t actually here!  I don’t think I read later books in the series…so I’m left with a mystery memory.  Does anyone remember a scene like this?  There’s a big fantasy battle, and in the middle of it a boy throws his lucky stone at the villain to protect a girl (a sister or a friend, I don’t remember), and the stone turns out to be some long-lost magical item of power.  Ring a bell with anyone?

Meanwhile, I do plan to finish out this series–maybe the scene will still pop up in a later installment after all!

Author’s Site: http://www.janejohnson.eu/

Other reviews:
The Alchemist’s Arcanabulum
Okbo Lover
Anyone else?