A brilliant read! Everett takes the story of Huckleberry Finn and flips it on its head, making the enslaved man Jim the narrator, although Jim thinks A brilliant read! Everett takes the story of Huckleberry Finn and flips it on its head, making the enslaved man Jim the narrator, although Jim thinks of himself as James, and has a rich interior life to which his white enslavers are completely oblivious.
We follow James and Huck on the same adventure Mark Twain outlines in his seminal novel Huckleberry Finn, but we see the action from James' point of view, which changes everything, and whenever the two main characters are separated, we follow James on his own adventures, rather than staying with Huck. This is only a structural comparison, but it reminded me somewhat of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, in that we experience a well-known text (Hamlet) from a completely different and undervalued point of view. Seeing James' journey through the Antebellum South makes the story even more horrifying and visceral, though Everett loses none of the sardonic humor and picaresque character work that made Twain's original text so memorable.
One of my favorite things about the novel is Everett's depiction of how James and his fellow enslaved Blacks talk. They are self-educated. James has secretly learned to read and write, sneaking books from Judge Thatcher's library whenever he can. He and his family speak better English than their enslavers, but they hide their skills whenever whites are around, talking instead in an exaggerated 'slave dialect' so that the whites will not feel threatened, which the enslaved feel is the best way they can stay safe. 'Jim' is a persona, therefore, a mask that James puts on so he can navigate the impossible world he was born into. This idea itself -- of masks and false identities -- is very much in the spirit of Twain's work, and I have to believe Twain himself would have chuckled approvingly if he'd gotten the chance to read this excellent text.
Everett does a wonderful job breathing new life into the story, but is not afraid to take liberties with it as well. Some of his reveals, the twists and secrets he adds, make such perfect sense I found myself thinking, "Oh, THAT's why those two characters interacted as they did!" or "Ah, now I finally understand why Jim/James made that choice in the original novel!" One thing is for certain, after reading James you will never see the character, or Huckleberry Finn, the same way again. Everett has made it newly relevant, charged with honesty and raw emotions, for the 21st century. ...more
So you've read The Hunger Games, a bunch of other adventures about teens in deadly contests, along with lots of different takes on schools of magic wiSo you've read The Hunger Games, a bunch of other adventures about teens in deadly contests, along with lots of different takes on schools of magic with all the intrigue and interpersonal drama that goes on behind the scenes as students try to reach the pinnacle of success and graduate alive. You're looking for your next compelling, unputdownable read like that, but you'd also love some good anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist themes woven into the action? Let me recommend The Will of the Many. (Once again, heartfelt thanks to Rebecca Roanhorse for recommending this stellar read with her Goodreads review.)
Vis Solum has a secret. He is an orphan barely surviving in the city of Letens, a provincial backwater on the outskirts of the Caten Republic. (Think the Roman Empire at its zenith, but with a terrifying magical system of oppressing the masses.) In reality (MILD SPOILER ANSWERED IN THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS) Vis is the sole heir of a small kingdom that was recently invaded and crushed by Caten. He hates the Caten Republic and longs for vengeance. (END SPOILER) He is incredibly skilled, well trained, intelligent and resourceful, but what can one dispossessed boy do against the world's mightiest empire? You might be surprised . . .
Through a combination of skill and fortune, Vis begins to infiltrate and rise in the ranks of Caten society, until he manages to enter the Academy -- the training grounds for the future leaders of the Republic. There are schemes within schemes, and everyone here is using everyone else for their own motives. (MORE MILD SPOILERS) Vis' adopted family is using him as a spy against a rival faction within the empire. A rebel group is using him to gain information on the empire and hopefully overthrow it. The head of the school is running a shadowy operation that hopes to use Academy students to uncover an unspeakable secret weapon that once destroyed all civilization in the pre-recorded times before Caten. (END SPOILERS)
At first, Vis just wants to survive, to escape the fate of all Caten subjects, which is to be chained to the system of Will that keeps Catenans under the thumb of the empire and props up its power structure. But will he be able to do more? How far can he rise within the system he wants to topple, and what will he be willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal? Is there anyone in the world he can trust with his true identity?
It's not easy to make a seven-hundred-page novel into a quick, breathless read, but Islington makes it look effortless. He has created a world that is horrifying, logical, and absolutely believable. The system of Will is an incredible invention. Briefly, all society is structured into eight ranks, from Octavii (the lowest) to Princeps (the highest). Each caste level 'cedes' part of their Will to the caste above it. Once you are mandatorily conditioned into the system, by visiting an ancient magical structure called an Aurora Columnae before your eighteenth birthday, you have no choice but to be part of the system. Octavii, at the bottom, are required to give up half their energy, strength, soul, life force -- whatever you want to call it -- to the caste above. This means they live lives little better than zombies, always in a fog, dying early, unable to do more than survive and do their required work, but hey, at least they get fed and make the transportation system run on time, right? (sarcasm) The next level, septimi, get to draw on the Will of a few octavii, and cede a little less of their will to the sexti above them, and so on, until at the top of the food chain, the princeps class is able to draw on the Will of thousands of their subjects, making them virtual gods able to do superhuman feats. Will is used to create giant monuments, power machines, destroy enemy nations, and basically do anything to keep Caten in power. It is a literal pyramid scheme that has taken over the world. It is seductive and glamorous and pure evil.
I won't say much more, because I don't want to ruin the many, many surprises, twists and turns, but this is the most haunting and powerful fantasy I've read in quite a while. It took me a couple of chapters to get used to the terminology and world-building, but very quickly after that, I was sucked into the story and simply could not stop reading. Unsettling, gripping, timely, powerful -- this book is highly recommended. I can't wait for the next volume....more
A debut novel about vampires, The God of Endings is well-crafted and compellingly written. It pairs nicely with Interview with the Vampire, in that itA debut novel about vampires, The God of Endings is well-crafted and compellingly written. It pairs nicely with Interview with the Vampire, in that it is a character-based, introspective exploration of the psyche more than a plot-driven adventure about the supernatural. We follow our main character Collette (though she has many names) from her girlhood in the 1830s into the 1980s, alternating chapters from her past and present, slowly coming to understand how she became the vampire she is today. Her history is a series of poignant and colorful vignettes, memorable character sketches all laced with tragedy. We feel the curse of her immortality, but also her hard-won efforts to find beauty and peace in a life that she never chose. Throughout, we have the looming specter of Czernobog, the Slavic god of endings, who may be stalking Collette, waiting for her immortal life to end -- or possibly augurs some entirely different fate. I found the novel haunting and beautiful, painterly in style, which matches the main character's love of visual art. As with all the best books about vampires, the real focus here is on human nature. Definitely worth a read!...more
You picked up this book. You looked at the title. And if you’re like me, your first question was: What waits in the forest? The Ghosts of St. Virgil
You picked up this book. You looked at the title. And if you’re like me, your first question was: What waits in the forest?
Are you sure you’re brave enough to find out? Oh, so many things await. The central mystery of the novel, yes. That is terrifying enough. But the ghosts of the past also lurk in the shadowy trees -- broken hopes and dreams, the secrets of a whole community that may tear Selina DaSilva’s life apart once and for all.
Sarah Dass invites us into a world of magic and murder. She imbues the sunny island of St. Virgil with a dark sinister mood as effectively as Walter Mosley did for 1940s Los Angeles. This is a novel that will keep you turning pages as layer upon layer of mystery are peeled away, slowly revealing the truth behind the strange goings-on in this supposedly sleepy Caribbean hideaway. What really happened when Selina’s father was murdered? What did her mother see that left her unresponsive and bedridden? Is witchcraft just superstition, or is it something more? And who – or what – is killing people on the island?
Our hero Selina DaSilva is the perfect companion for this journey. She is savvy but melancholy, resilient but hurting, jaded but hopeful. She has an impossible legacy to live up to. Her father was a police investigator until he himself was murdered. His unsolved death stills haunts Selina. Her infamous mother was the island’s most prominent woman of magic – both feared and respected, ultimately scorned – but she left Selina none of her magical gifts . . . or at least, so it seems. Selina will have to be both detective and magician to find the truth and stay alive.
As compelling as the plot is, what I really love about Dass’ novel is the way she conjures up an entire world of complex and sympathetic characters. We are thrust headlong into a living, breathing network of friends, family, rivals, enemies, frenemies, lovers and exes. The emotional investment is immediate.
It Waits in the Forest is a love letter to life on a Caribbean island: the tight-knit small-town dynamics, the double-edged sword of tourism, the sense of isolation but also local pride, the dissonance of living in paradise while struggling with poverty, lack of opportunity, claustrophobic relationships and the weight of your family’s reputation. But these are characters any reader can relate to, no matter where you live. I found myself reading for the interpersonal drama as much as the action. Sure, I want to know what force is stalking victims on the island. Is there actually a serial killer on the loose? But I also want to know why Selina and Gabriel broke up. I want to understand why Janice is so mean to Selina, why Allison really came back from the mainland, what Edward wants in a relationship, and whether or not I can trust Muriel, or Dr. Henry, or . . . well, really any of these wonderfully crafted characters.
At its core, this story is about overcoming the past. Is it ever possible? Can we embrace and accept where we come from, deal with all the baggage of our families and our personal relationships, and somehow manage to become more than our history? Are we controlled by destiny, restrained by our roots, or can we make our own fate?
Waiting in the forest are the answers. But you’ll also find many ghosts . . . unresolved traumas, hidden tragedies, ruined lives, and dreams of what might have been. It’s a potent brew. It will haunt you long after you finish reading. But to tell the truth? I wish I could read this book all over again for the first time. Now I feel like a ghost myself, waiting in the forest, hoping for another chance to step into the sunlight of St. Virgil. Sequel, anyone? I’m ready!...more
My first read from Fonda Lee, this novella offers stunning world-building and a deeply human story. We find ourselves in a kingdom at war -- not just My first read from Fonda Lee, this novella offers stunning world-building and a deeply human story. We find ourselves in a kingdom at war -- not just against its foreign enemies, but against monstrous animals called manticores, which some believe are supernatural curses sent by the Deceiver. With their insatiable appetite for human flesh, their impossibly thick hides and venomous bites, manticore cannot be killed by any means known to man . . . except one: the massive raptors called rocs. These huge birds are hunting machines, and while they are just as dangerous as manticores in their own way, rocs can be trained to hunt with human companions, ruhkers, in the service of the king. The ruhkers are charged with finding and killing manticores and keeping the people safe. Ester joins the royal ruhkers as a young girl, after a terrible family tragedy, and is paired with a young roc named Zahra. We follow their adventures from early training through apprenticeship, through their journeyman hunts and finally into a great climactic encounter that will test their bond and their mettle like never before. Lee makes us care about all her characters, human and roc, and builds a world so rich and real it could serve as the basis for many adventures. I enjoyed my time with the ruhkers greatly, and hope to see them again in future books!...more
The country is trapped in a culture war, with some arguing for a return to the Good Old Days and others arguing for greater personal freedom and less The country is trapped in a culture war, with some arguing for a return to the Good Old Days and others arguing for greater personal freedom and less enforcement of religious and moral laws. The 'sides' are fluid, but each group uses new technology to rapidly share its ideas with likeminded individuals, creating echo chambers that highlight only the news they want to hear while distorting news that would contradict their worldview. The groups jeer at each other -- calling their political opponents 'cuckholds,' 'idiots,' 'traitors,' and worse. Chaos increases, leading to violent confrontations between angry mobs on the street. Everything becomes 'political,' from church to entertainment to schools. Eventually, the country slides into a civil war that nobody really thought would happen, and that would tear the country apart.
I'm taking about England in the 1600s. But if it sounds like this could be a scenario playing out today, well . . . that's why I think history is so valuable. As it says in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. People are people, and what happened over four centuries ago is still echoing through the world in 2024.
The Blazing World is probably not a read for everyone. It is thorough, comprehensive in scope, and juggles a cast of hundreds of characters. Nevertheless, if you're a history nerd like me, Revolutionary England is a fascinating time period to read about, and one that I only knew about superficially before this. What struck me as most relevant and scary: The people of the time had no idea what direction things would go, and events moved at such a whiplash pace that they were quickly plunged into situations that would've been unthinkable only a few years before. For the first time in memory, a king was beheaded by his own people. The English were faced with a clean slate and a chance to completely remake their society. Utopian ideas flourished (briefly). England could be a communist collective with no property ownership. Or a Republic. Or a Theocracy. Or a kingdom without a king. In the end, the country swung between extremes, back and forth, looking to a dictator (Oliver Cromwell) to stabilize the nation and save them from anarchy, only to eventually decide that maybe the old king and country idea wasn't so bad after all (with a few new checks and balances). My other major takeaway was the effect of the printing press and the increase in literacy rates, especially in London, which meant that for the first time, the common folk, the 'blue collar workers,' were reading and discussing political ideas, becoming a force unto themselves -- a powerful counterweight to the crown and to landed aristocracy. There are differences compared to the rise of social media, yes, but the disruptive potential of new communication media is a factor today, just as it was then.
All in all, a fascinating book about a different time that echoes our own, though I want to be mindful of Healey's warning -- the people in the past were not us, and they could not have existed or acted as they did in any other time period. Still, yikes! The 1600s in England are what it looks like when social and political polarization run amok, and the results are not pretty....more
I very much enjoyed this! I haven't read much military historical fiction, but for those who would like to experience what it might have been like beiI very much enjoyed this! I haven't read much military historical fiction, but for those who would like to experience what it might have been like being a foot soldier in a medieval war, Dan Jones' Essex Dogs brings the Hundred Years War to life in all its color, violence and smell! I didn't even realize this was the same author whose historical works I had read previously, like The Plantagenets, but Jones is one of those rare authors who can write history like an adventure novel and an adventure novel that is firmly grounded in history. In his author's note, Jones says that he was inspired to undertake the novel after a talk with George R.R. Martin, and it's safe to say that the book fits in tonally quite well with A Game of Thrones -- only this story is not fantasy.
We follow a band of soldiers-for-hire, the Essex Dogs, as they embark on Edward III's invasion of France in 1346 C.E. Jones starts each chapter with a quote from a primary source about the campaign, then uses the chapter to flesh out how that event might have actually unfolded, sometimes in surprising and even humorous ways. This is a grim age, and the work of the foot soldiers is hard and often gruesome, but Jones does a good job making the reader feel sympathy and connection for his 'band of brothers' who land on what will someday be Utah Beach. He weaves our protagonists into the historical record, introduces us to the main historical figures involved in the war, but keeps the focus on the enlisted men and their struggles to stay alive and get back home safely with their pay. The Essex Dogs are a colorful bunch, each with a complex backstory and compelling personality. Lovejoy, the leader of the group, is our POV most of the time, and I found him an excellent companion -- loyal to a fault, brave and seasoned in war, but also weary of violence, cynical about the career of mercenary, and given to kindness and mercy -- a trait that could very well get him killed. At the end of the book, I found myself yearning to stick with the Dogs and see what came next on their adventures. Fortunately, my timing was good. The second novel about the Dogs, "The Wolves of Winter," has just been published!...more
A chilling supernatural mystery set in Rust Belt Appalachia, Jackal introduces us to Liz Rocher, a second generation Haitian-American who has returnedA chilling supernatural mystery set in Rust Belt Appalachia, Jackal introduces us to Liz Rocher, a second generation Haitian-American who has returned home reluctantly from New York City to her mostly white Pennsylvania rural community for her best friend's wedding. Anyone who has ever moved away and then returned to their childhood town will appreciate Liz's feelings of discomfort, but her homecoming quickly goes from bad to nightmarish.
Liz grew up knowing that the woods on the edge of town had a sinister reputation. Every child learns nursery rhymes about a "man and his shadow" who lurk there, and who will sometimes call your name. If you hear your name, don't answer. If you think you see something in the woods, no, you didn't. Move on. Never think about it. Liz made herself believe this was just a fable, but real terrible things have happened in the woods. A series of young Black women have gone missing over the years, some of whom turned up later, dead and brutally disfigured. Somehow, the town always manages to write these off as random tragedies: falls, animal attacks, etc. But Liz lives with the memory of the night in high school when she almost became one of those disappeared girls . . . and she has a shadowy memory of seeing something dark with teeth.
When another child goes missing, Liz feels directly responsible. Soon she is plunged into a dangerous quest to find out the truth about the woods and the murderous force that dwells there.
To me, the book shares some common ground with the films of Jordan Peele and the novels of Colson Whitehead, both of whom so effectively tap into the Black experience in America and turn it into psychological/supernatural horror. Jackal ratchets up this concept by looking specifically at the violence done to generations of young Black women, embodying this reality in one specific town, facing a specific, if nebulous, force of evil. It is chilling to think something is out there in the woods, taking and murdering Black women. It is even more chilling (and totally believable) that the entire town has conspired for generations to keep this from becoming news -- writing off the murders as accidents over and over again, until Liz realizes how deep the conspiracy goes and refuses to remain silent.
Who can she trust? Just about no one, perhaps not even herself. This is a great mystery, with a large cast of believable, fully human characters who are each suspicious in their own way. I found it a quick and engaging read, and will be putting future books by Erin E. Adams on my TBR radar! ...more
A bookseller friend in Houston recommended this series to me, and now I see why. It's a rock 'em sock 'em thriller perfect for fans of Lee Child's JacA bookseller friend in Houston recommended this series to me, and now I see why. It's a rock 'em sock 'em thriller perfect for fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher, Robert B. Parker's Spenser, or similar series. The tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold POV is not for everyone, but I like it, and the protagonist here, Dez Limerick, is a welcome 21st-century refresh on that type of hero. He is a recently retired 'gatekeeper,' someone whose job is to break in and break out of anywhere, and to control the entrance/exit as long as the rest of his black ops team needs to do their job. Dez has a tattoo of Janus, the god of doorways, on his arm. As a Roman mythology buff, I appreciated that! In this adventure, Dez has to come out of retirement when he falls into an international conspiracy quite by accident (naturally!) and has to bust some heads that are very much in need of busting. I looked up the author's profile page, expecting to see the usual glowering photo of a serious-looking thriller writer, only to find that James Byrne is a pseudonym and his author portrait is a cute cat. Bonus points for Mr. Byrne! I am diving into the second book, Dead Lock, now. If you like a good thriller with wisecracking dialogue, plenty of beat-downs, and a hero with a code of honor but a narrative that doesn't take itself too serious, this might be for you!...more
Why yes, I do think about the Roman Empire all the time. Of course, I write books about Greek and Roman mythology, so I like to think I have a good reWhy yes, I do think about the Roman Empire all the time. Of course, I write books about Greek and Roman mythology, so I like to think I have a good reason, but if you are a fellow Roman history buff, you can't do much better than Tom Holland for accessible, entertaining nonfiction. This is Holland's third book in a series about Rome's imperial age. It picks up at the death of Nero and covers the age of the Flavian emperors: including such A-listers as Trajan and Hadrian. Holland brings the era to life with all its colorful characters, its interpersonal drama and its massive global stakes.
We see the Roman Empire at its zenith, but Holland makes it clear that at the time, no one knew that. It seemed very likely to the Romans at the time, year after year, that the entire empire was crumbling. Each Caesar might be the last. The upper-crust Romans grumbled that traditional values were being eroded. As they saw it, foreigners were ruining their culture, infiltrating their society, polluting the core of Roman identity. Rome, having taken over much of the known world, was a victim or its own success, because now the world was taking over Rome. When Trajan died, after a series of stunning conquests that took him from Britain to Dacia to the edge of the Persian Gulf, his heir Hadrian made a dramatic strategic policy shift, gave up some of those indefensible conquests, and began to "build that wall" around the empire to protect its borders. For an empire that defined itself by conquest, this was a huge mental shift.
Another particularly relevant section of PAX is its coverage of the Judaean revolts, and the vicious retribution of Titus, who, following a brutal wave of anti-Roman slaughter by the oppressed Judaeans, finally razed the Judaeans' temple and wiped Jerusalem off the map in 70 C.E., replacing it with a new Roman city -- an act of imperialist brute force that still has ramifications today. The Romans, like later imperial colonial powers, were masters at turning local populations against one another, to divide and conquer, as Vespasian and Titus did, using legions in Judaea that were drawn largely from the Samaritans, bitter enemies of the Judaeans. The emperors got their victory, but the lesson, to me, is be careful what you wish for. Rome answered force with even greater force, hoping to erase Judaea from existence. Two millennia later, we are still dealing with the fallout, and seeing the same force-against-force dynamic at play in the same region with no resolution in sight. Thanks a lot, Rome.
Holland's books are about as close to time travel as the modern reader can get. They always make me think, and make him appreciate both how different the world is now, and sadly, how very similar. ...more
I picked up this book thinking it was a murder mystery, which it is in a way, but it turned all my assumptions upside-down after the first chapter. ToI picked up this book thinking it was a murder mystery, which it is in a way, but it turned all my assumptions upside-down after the first chapter. Tom Kettle is a retired detective, living on his own in a cottage on the Irish coast. Two younger detectives from Dublin come to visit him one night, ostensibly to get his help on a cold case that has been reopened, but the narrative quickly unspools into a series of memories and experiences from Tom Kettle's past, until it begins to dawn on the reader that Tom Kettle is losing his grip on his own mind, and is no longer sure what is present and what is past. Who is alive? Who is dead? What happened to Tom's family, and what secrets are in danger of being unearthed with this cold case from Tom's past?
Are we in Tom's present-day life, or are we reliving things that happened to him decades before, or things he has simply imagined? The writing is beautiful. This is one of the finest examples I've ever read of an unreliable narrator, a story told from the point of view of a man slipping into dementia. It is deeply unsettling, as it is no doubt meant to be. The story is also deeply Irish, grounded in the culture of the place and the daily lives of characters from the 1960s into the present. I would recommend this book for its poignant and lovely character studies, its realism, its meta-cognitive narration that captures a man's entire life in memories as they slip away from him. It is not a traditional sort of mystery novel, but it is a powerful portrait of the ghosts of the past and how they can haunt us right to the grave. ...more
If you had the power to take revenge on those who hurt you, would you make them suffer as you suffered – an eye for an eye? If so, would this bring yo If you had the power to take revenge on those who hurt you, would you make them suffer as you suffered – an eye for an eye? If so, would this bring you closure?
These are grim questions, not easy to talk about. But for survivors of sexual violence, they can resonate powerfully. Often, healing feels impossible, much less finding closure. Justice feels out of reach, much less retribution. In A Drop of Venom, these questions are not hypothetical. This is the story of a young woman who survives sexual violence and becomes strong enough to take terrible revenge. But in doing so, will she become as much of a monster as her abuser?
In blending the Medusa myth with Indian folklore to build a new, vibrant fantasy world, Sajni Patel offers us the story behind the myth – a tale of abuse and healing, of survival and rebirth, of a woman claiming power in a world dominated by men, in which heroes and villains are not so easy to distinguish. As a friend tells our protagonist Manisha at her lowest point in the novel: “those in power seek to control what they fear.” In Manisha’s world, as in our own, what some men in power fear most are powerful women who will hold them accountable for their misdeeds. A Drop of Venom is Medusa’s story from Medusa’s point of view, but it is also a story for every survivor in every age and in every world.
Why address a problem like sexual violence in a young adult fantasy novel? For the same reason the issue was addressed in mythology thousands of years ago: sexual violence has been with us always. It affects a huge number of people in every generation. According to the Center for Disease Control, over half of women and almost one third of men have experienced some form of sexual violence during their lifetimes. Transgender, queer and nonbinary people are four times more likely than their cisgender counterparts to suffer from all forms of violence, including sexual, according to a study by the Williams Institute at UCLA. And according to RAINN (the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network), youth are at particular risk. Almost 70% of sexual violence survivors are people between the ages of twelve and thirty-four. The most powerful way to combat the problem is to break through the silence. Stories like A Drop of Venom give voice to survivors, while provoking all of us to think about what it means to be hero, a monster, a good person.
This is not, however, just a story about an important topic. It is an epic, page-turning, fantastic adventure that deals with important topics. Patel is a master worldbuilder, weaving a tapestry of cultures, history, magic and myth so believable and instinctively true you might get a sense of déjà vu. Her world feels like a place we should have known about, one that we must have experienced before, perhaps lurking just under the surface of our own reality.
We follow the stories of two young people, Manisha and Pratyush, as they struggle against the expectations of their societies. Manisha is a Nagin, her people hunted as monsters and rebels by the Kingdom. To stay alive, Manisha must pretend to be a human orphan. She enters the service of the Kingdom’s great temple, where she hides her true identity and tries to rise in rank, going deep “undercover” in the hopes that she may someday bring down the system from the inside. Pratyush is the last Slayer, a hero born with epic strength and skill, who has his own reasons for disliking the Kingdom, but who sees no choice except to honor his debt to the king and protect the Kingdom from monsters. When Manisha and Pratyush meet, the chemistry between them is immediate, but love between them would be strictly forbidden. Priestesses cannot allow a man to touch them. Slayers cannot marry. They each have clearly defined roles in life, and they are expected to stick to them.
As the king tells Pratyush: “You don’t exist to feel; leave that to poets. You don’t exist to think; leave that to scholars. You don’t exist to rule; leave that to me. Your only purpose is to kill. So kill. And if you cannot do the one thing you were born to do, then what good are you?”
Neither Pratyush nor Manisha are content with their roles. Neither likes being controlled. But does a love story between two young outsiders have any hope when the entire weight of the kingdom seems bent on making them enemies: Pratyush a hero, Manisha a monster?
Rick Riordan Presents has published many important stories. A Drop of Venom, for me, is perhaps one of the most important, because it deals with issues that so many young readers will face in one way or another during their lives: fighting societal expectations, speaking truth to power, finding your authentic self, surviving trauma, claiming agency. Most of all, it asks the question: If you had the power, would you be better than those who use power against you? What makes a monster and what makes a hero?
So go ahead and look into the eyes of the gorgon, the Nagin, the fearsome woman who is said to turn men to stone. You may find that she’s not who you think she is. There may be a reason the king does not want you to behold her face. You may see truth there, and truth can be the most dangerous weapon of all.
In Roshani Chokshi’s take on Filipino mythology, every reflective surface is a doorwaIf Your Mirror Could Talk, What Would it Say?
It turns out, a lot.
In Roshani Chokshi’s take on Filipino mythology, every reflective surface is a doorway into the spirit world. Your mirror is always watching, always listening. If you could learn how to understand its silent glassy language, you might hear a few things about your past, your future, and the bad things coming your way . . .
The Spirit Glass is peppered with beautiful whispered asides from the world’s many looking glasses. By the end of the book, I was glancing suspiciously at the full-length mirror in my hallway, wondering what secrets it kept and where it might lead. That’s the power of a Roshani Chokshi novel. Not only does it let you into a new world. That new world seeps into your own and becomes a part of your life.
Here’s one secret my mirror might tell you: I read The Spirit Glass in a single day, because I simply could not put it down. Once finished, I paced back and forth, muttering to myself, “Wow, I did not think I could love any protagonist more than I love Aru Shah. But now there is Corazon Lopez . . .” Forgive me, Aru, for those words of blasphemy! The Spirit Glass is just that good. It’s making me question everything I thought I knew.
For instance, I had no idea that anitos were a thing. Why can’t I have a megalomanic glowing polka-dotted gecko as my magical companion? It’s not fair.
Why isn’t my house like Corazon Lopez’s magical House, sprouting new windows and porches when it’s happy, making me breakfast just because it loves me, producing an endless supply of comfy pillows and blankets for movie night in the living room?
Most importantly, what flavors of magical sorbetes could I buy at the Midnight Bridge market? That’s another powerful thing about Rosh’s novels. You will get very hungry for all the delicious food she describes.
Of course, Corazon Lopez’s life isn’t all geckos and ice cream. As a young babaylan in training, she is still waiting for her powers to manifest. She’s understandably nervous. Will she be able to control the weather? Or raise the dead? Or turn sunlight into diamonds? She worries she will never be as powerful as her parents, or her Aunt Tina who can sing vegetables right out of a garden and read the future in drips of candle wax.
There’s also the small matter of Corazon’s parents being . . . well, dead. It’s lovely that their souls can visit for Saturday dinner, but a few hours a week isn’t enough! Corazon yearns to become a full-fledged babaylan so she can use her spirit key to manifest her parents all the time. Then they can be a proper family again!
Alas, many things stand in the way of Corazon’s aspiration. Her Aunt Tina is keeping secrets about the family’s history. She refuses to read Corazon’s future for fear of what it might hold. Corazon’s babaylan powers are stubbornly slow to manifest. And worse of all, during a chance encounter at the Midnight Bridge, Corazon makes a mistake that might keep her from ever get her parents back. To fix that mistake, the young shaman and her plucky reptile sidekick must navigate the spirit world, overcoming ghosts and monsters and magic. But one thing you will learn in The Spirit Glass: You should never bet against Corazon Lopez.
My favorite part of this book – okay, I have many favorite parts -- but one of my favorite parts is how magic bartering works. When you buy a spell, a charm or a potion, you must offer something of equal value. How do you know what’s fair? You simply do. There is a satisfying click as the balance of the universe settles into place, and both sides agree, yep, that was a good trade. Wouldn’t it be nice if all transactions were like that?
Corazon Lopez is offering you a trip through the multigenerational, multicultural, multi-mythological world of Filipino folklore – a world of seven thousand islands, one hundred and fifty languages, myriad religions and countless stories. You will be thrilled, surprised, enchanted and hungry when you finish this book. What price could possibly be a fair trade for such an experience?
The best price of all – just read the book. I think you’ll find, as I did, that when you finish The Spirit Glass, the universe will re-balance with a satisfying click, and you will feel that you got a very good trade indeed. You world will seem bigger. You’ll see magic everywhere. And if you happen to catch the sound of your mirrors whispering to one another, well, to quote an old friend of mine, “don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Thanks to Mark Oshiro for recommending this book to me! An excellent middle-grade adventure about vampires and vampire hunters, The Vanquishers reads Thanks to Mark Oshiro for recommending this book to me! An excellent middle-grade adventure about vampires and vampire hunters, The Vanquishers reads like a modern mash-up of The Goonies and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the best possible way. Bonus points for the fact that it is set in my hometown of San Antonio! Malika's world is very recognizable. She and her friends binge Marvel movies and Stranger Things, bike to the Cold Stone Creamery at the mall to escape the brutal Texas heat, and deal with all the usual drama of middle school homework, cliques and bullies. But their parents remember a time when vampires were real, before the Reaping, when a group of super-hunters called the Vanquishers finally destroyed the vampires for good. . . . Or did they? These days, everyone knows vampires are extinct. The Vanquishers are long gone, their memory honored every year in parades like retired rock stars or sports figures, but no one thinks of their work as anything but ancient history. Vampire repellent? Strict before-dark curfews? Silver doors to dissuade unwanted visitors? That's considered old-fashioned, silly, even paranoid, except for Malika (a.k.a. Boog), whose parents keep the old ways. Do they know something they aren't telling her? Then, when one of Malika's friends goes missing, ancient history suddenly feels very current. What really happened to the vampires? And if the world needs the Vanquishers again, can Malika and her friends step up to face the challenge? I loved the way Bayron teases out the threads of the mystery, making us suspect everyone, withholding information in just the right way to keep the pages turning. We are immersed in the daily lives of Boog's neighborhood, and you will want to spend more time with all of these families. They are real, genuine, kind, funny, complicated, and fully human in all their diversity and beauty. The book weighs in at a lean-and-mean 189 pages (in my electronic version, anyway) and feels perfect for a fast-paced summer reading adventure for middle-schoolers. Great stuff!...more
For instance, Winston Chu lost his father to a friendly fire accident in Iraq. Now, it’s just Winston, his mom and his twoLife is full of unfairness.
For instance, Winston Chu lost his father to a friendly fire accident in Iraq. Now, it’s just Winston, his mom and his two sisters, muddling through life as best they can in their tiny San Francisco apartment. Winston’s mom is barely holding it together. His big sister Phillipa has turned grumpy and withdrawn. His little sister Coco – well, Coco is awesome, but she’s just a toddler. She doesn’t even remember their dad, which makes Winston incredibly sad.
Also unfair? One day, Winston happens to save a local shopkeeper from getting robbed. Then, as his reward, he gets to choose the first thing he touches in the shop. That doesn’t sound unfair. After all, Mr. Pang’s Whimsies is full of expensive and possibly magical things like ‘eggs of truth,’ ‘far-seeing eyeballs,’ and ‘kick me’ boots. But when Winston unintentionally touches something else instead, he goes home as the proud owner of a grungy old broom and a matching dustpan. Yippee.
It gets worse. The broom and the dustpan seem to hold some kind of curse. Important things start disappearing from Winston’s home. Then people start disappearing. And Mr. Pang’s Shop itself vanishes, along with its owner, who may or may not have been dead for fifty years . . .
Soon, Winston and his friends are plunged into an impossible adventure to figure out the truth about Mr. Pang and his Whimsies, and hopefully undo the bad luck that has made Winston’s life a flying pizza of disaster.
But the thing I find most unfair of all: Why is Stacey Lee such a good writer? She’s got sympathetic, believable characters that instantly feel like your new best friends. Page-turning action and intrigue. Quirky, witty writing that will make you laugh out loud. How does she do all that and make it look so easy? I mean, come on. Stop being such a talented storyteller, Lee. You’re making the rest of us look bad.
I’m kidding (mostly). But I will confess that as I read Winston Chu, I went from thinking: “I wonder if I’ll be able to offer any helpful advice to Stacey!” to “I’m going to start taking notes because Stacey is totally schooling me on great storytelling!”
I love Winston’s big heart, his courage and his loyalty to his friends and family. I love his impulsive awkward stumbling through middle school. I love Mr. Pang’s Whimsies and all the beautiful chaos they create in Winston’s life. Most of all, I love the way Lee weaves together Chinese folklore and modern San Francisco into a magical book so clever and fun it just demands to be read aloud with the whole family or the whole classroom.
Like I said: Totally unfair. Lee is so good that her book feels like Mr. Pang’s shop – chocked full of hidden treasures in every nook and cranny, rife for exploration, endlessly surprising and rewarding. I am so glad Stacey Lee is so unfairly talented, because it will make many happy readers! Just be careful what you bump into as you explore this shop of Whimsies. If you end up going home with a bad-natured broom and dustpan . . . Well, you’ll find out soon enough. ...more
I read this a while back, but I suppose I needed some time to process what I'd experienced. Johnson writes with clarity and power about their experienI read this a while back, but I suppose I needed some time to process what I'd experienced. Johnson writes with clarity and power about their experience growing as a Queer Black child in New Jersey, not knowing where they fit in and wishing, as they say themselves, that they had a book like this one to provide some guidance, or at least reassurance, that life would get better, and that there was a path to better acceptance and happiness. The book is structured in a series of short, sharply rendered personal essays, making this a quick and compelling read. Their autobiographical stories are at turns beautiful, sad, painful and joyful, much like life itself. And while this book will be so meaningful to many LGBTQIA+ youth, looking for understanding and representation in an often cruel world, it is also completely relatable to any young reader who has ever felt like they didn't belong, or weren't understood by family or peers. Highly recommended!...more
When was the last time I read a book this mind-blowingly original? Light from Uncommon Stars takes elements of different familiar story lines -- a deaWhen was the last time I read a book this mind-blowingly original? Light from Uncommon Stars takes elements of different familiar story lines -- a deal with the Devil, aliens from outer space living among us, and the all-too-real struggles of a young trans woman trying to survive abuse and rejection -- and combines them into something completely new, jarring, unexpected and beautiful, much like the Bartók sonata around which the plot revolves.
Shizuka Satomi, once a brilliant violinist, now a feared and legendary violin teacher known as the Queen of Hell, has traded her soul to the Devil, but she has an escape clause: If she can deliver the souls of seven of her best students to her demon-in-charge Tremon Phillipe, Shizuka herself will be able to walk free. She has already delivered six souls. And now she thinks she has found the seventh . . .
Katrina Nguyen can no longer stand it at home. Her father gets drunk and hits her and her mother. Neither parent can accept the fact that Katrina is transgender. She scrapes together money for her hormonal treatments by doing porn chats online, putting up with 'clients' that call her a freak but also find her alluring, but what Katrina really wants is to play her violin to create beautiful music based on video game soundtracks. She's just afraid. If anyone sees her, will they accept her violin playing, or will they only see her appearance and hurl more hateful comments? Finally, Katrina takes her 'go bag' and escapes, riding the bus to L.A. to find someone she met once, who seemed supportive . . . She never dreams that she is about to find a teacher instead.
Lan Tran has brought her family to earth to escape the Endplague which is slowly destroying her home in the Galactic Empire. Disguised as human, the Tran family takes over Starrgate Donut and begins to find a place in their local community. Lan's mission is to build an actual star gate inside the giant donut sign on top of their shop, but when she meets an elegant woman who barges into the donut shop, desperate to use the restroom, the first glimmers of an impossible intergalactic romance begin to shine.
Can Shizuka and Lan find love amidst the twin threats of galactic plague and demonic contracts? Will Katrina really agree to trade her soul to realize her dreams? There are so many memorable characters in this novel. You will care about each and every one, beautifully rendered and fully human. It's a story about escaping your fate, making your place in a hostile world, and learning to find love among those who accept you. It's funny, heartfelt, haunting. It's also a quick read, because Aoki's chapters are real page turners! Highly recommended....more
Grab Your Sword and Your Spaghetti. We’re Going to War.
You can only choose one. Would you rather:
A) Live with your parents as they travel the world,Grab Your Sword and Your Spaghetti. We’re Going to War.
You can only choose one. Would you rather:
A) Live with your parents as they travel the world, hunting vampiric monsters called adze, learning to handle a battle ax and sword and drawing magical adinkra symbols, knowing that you could die any minute. Or:
B) Go to middle school.
If you chose ‘B,’ what are you thinking? B is clearly the more dangerous option.
Serwa Boateng has the good life. She is full-on option ‘A.’ She has spent her life learning to slay vampires, accompanying her parents on dangerous missions wherever the ruling council of Okomfo sends them, and just waiting for the day when she will get her own adinkra tattoo that will mark her as a full member of the Abomofuo – the ancient and powerful Ghanaian order of vampire slayers.
Then everything goes wrong. After an unthinkable attack, Serwa’s parents send her to her cousin’s house in the middle of nowhere to live like a normal kid and – THE HORROR – go to sixth grade. That’s right, vampire slayers. You think you’re tough? Wait until you meet Rocky Gorge Middle School. There will be cliques. There will be detention. There will be spaghetti fights.
Just when Serwa thinks she might be able to handle all that, her old problems come back to haunt her too. There might actually be adze in Rocky Gorge -- but now Serwa is cut off from her parents and any possibility of magic assistance. She is on her own against blood-sucking fiends of both the monstrous and middle school variety.
Humor. Heart. Mythology. Action. Tragedy. Triumph. Lovable characters. And a conclusion that will leave you screaming, “Where is the sequel?” With this book, you don’t have to choose only one option, because Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting has all of the above!
I have always loved the folklore of Ghana. Adinkra symbols are a beautiful, powerful way of thinking about the world. The monsters are terrifying. The gods are magnificent. (Or sometimes the gods are terrifying and the monsters are magnificent.) The magic makes so much sense yet is absolutely revelatory. And the Abomofuo are top-notch, world-class vampire slayers that put Van Helsing to shame.
This is a book I have been craving for at least thirty years, when I first learned about Ghanaian mythology and wished I had more adventure stories about it to share with my middle school students. Thank goodness Roseanne A. Brown has stepped up to the plate and delivered us this homerun of novel!
She writes about living between worlds – Ghana and America, childhood and adulthood, the magical and the mundane – and about navigating the liminal spaces to find one’s own identity when one feels like they belong partly everywhere but completely nowhere. This is something many young readers (and many older ones) will relate to. Rosie writes her characters with such lyrical power, wit and empathy that you can’t help falling in love with Serwa Boateng, her family, her friends. You will want to be Serwa Boateng. I know I do. I would even agree to chill with the family mmoatia and watch reruns of The Bachelor if it meant I could learn to draw adinkra symbols and borrow Mom’s battle ax once in a while.
So grab your sword. Grab a bowl of spaghetti. Grab whatever weapon you can find and gird yourself for battle, readers. We have some vampires to hunt.
Oh, that beautiful island swallowed by the sea . . . the Atlantis of the Caribbean! The irresistible music of the kameroDo you remember San Madrigal?
Oh, that beautiful island swallowed by the sea . . . the Atlantis of the Caribbean! The irresistible music of the kameros electrified the tropical evenings. The Grand Fetes swirled with color and joyful chaos: dancing, singing, and drumming; gifts and prayers for the spirits. Platters overflowed with luscious seafood.
Nowhere else in the world had that particularly wonderful mix of humanity—the three “founding” groups of Sefaradim, Santeros, and pirates, and also Indigenous peoples, dispossessed European Jews, and freed West Africans. San Madrigal was a haven from persecution, slavery, and colonial rule. It wasn’t perfect, no, but it was fiercely, proudly independent. A tiny jewel of a country!
And then, fifteen years ago, it disappeared beneath the waves, leaving behind only the diaspora community of Little Madrigal in Brooklyn, New York. I still ache with sorrow when I think about such a loss to the world.
Wait, you say.
You check a map. You Google “San Madrigal.”
Uh, Rick? San Madrigal isn’t real. It never existed.
Balderdash! I say. (Because I am the kind of person who says “Balderdash.”)
Just because a place is fictional doesn’t mean it isn’t real. San Madrigal is a real as Wakanda or the Shire or Earthsea. Once you read Ballad & Dagger, you will see what I mean. Only the best authors can make me feel nostalgic for a place that never existed but needs to exist, and Daniel José Older is one of the best.
In Ballad & Dagger he gives us not only amazing characters, not only a compelling story, not only beautiful prose, humor, and heart—all of which come standard with every Older novel. He also gives us an entire culture—the heritage of a lost island we didn’t know we needed until it had sunk beneath the sea. That, my friends, is powerful writing.
Like all San Madrigaleros, our hero Mateo Matisse is many things. He’s a musician, a healer, a young man in search of his place in the world. He’s also going to be your new best friend as he guides you through the wonderful world of Little Madrigal: a community infused with magic, where spirits live side by side with the living, and where the fractious, pirate-inspired democracy of San Madrigal fights to maintain its culture without its island.
But what if San Madrigal could be raised again? What kind of magic would that require? What kind of sacrifices? These are the questions Matteo Matisse will have to wrestle with in Ballad & Dagger, and he’s going to need his healing skills, because the fight for the soul of San Madrigal is going to open up some very old wounds.
For many years, I have aspired to work with Daniel José Older. I have read all his books. I have been in awe of his breathtaking range. I have longed to find the largest soapbox available, stand upon it, and shout into my megaphone: HEY, EVERYBODY, YOU NEED TO READ THIS GUY!
I am delighted that I finally get to do this. And while any Daniel José Older novel is worth shouting about, Ballad & Dagger is something truly special. The first Rick Riordan Presents novel geared toward young adults, it is also, in my opinion, the most daring, ambitious, and memorable story Older has written yet, and that is saying a lot.
If any magic can raise San Madrigal from the sea again, it is the book you now hold in your hands. Just be warned: once you’ve explored the lost island, you may never want to leave!
An orphanage for magical children. An impossible romance between two gentle, caring men who live worlds apart. A shadowy bureaucracy that wants to keeAn orphanage for magical children. An impossible romance between two gentle, caring men who live worlds apart. A shadowy bureaucracy that wants to keep magical children "safe" and away from the eyes of the general public. The power of found family and kindness against prejudice and fear.
Mix these elements, bake until sweet golden brown, take out of the oven and enjoy fresh and hot with your best friends . . . That is the taste of T. J. Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea. Our hero Linus Baker would never consider himself a hero. He is a good man being slowly drained of life by his job as an inspector for DICOMY (Department in Charge of Magical Youth). He visits orphanages for magical children and inspects these places to recommend whether or not they should remain open. He truly cares for the well-being of the children, but he can't get attached. He stays at each orphanage only long enough to make his report, then he is off on his next assignment. What happens to the children when he leaves? What will happen to them when they grow up and face a harsh world that sees them as 'freaks'? Linus doesn't know. He has to keep his head down, do his job, and trust that Extremely Upper Management knows what they are doing. He can't let his heart be broken by the various banshees, dryads, fairies, werewolves and other magical children he meets during his inspections, many of whom have gone from foster home to foster home and suffered untold years of abuse just for being who they are.
But then Extremely Upper Management sends Linus on a special mission that is top secret: He is to spend one month evaluating the Marsyas Island Orphanage, run by Arthur Parnassus, and decide whether it should remain open. This is no ordinary magical home. The children there are special, terrifyingly special, and Arthur himself is hiding a deep secret. Can Linus keep his objectivity? Should he, once he discovers the truth?
This book is gentle and kind, full of faith in humanity's better nature despite all the ugliness and cruelty that tears us apart. At its core is a story about what good people do when faced with injustice, and how we find love, joy and family in difficult times. This book shows you a fantasy world you might not want to live in -- parts of it are depressingly familiar with government bureaucracies, dreary cities, uncaring neighbors and casual bigotry -- but you will definitely want to live on Marsyas Island with its wonderful cast of foundlings. Gay romance? Why, yes there is that too, absolutely: a tender, touching love story about how finding a true soulmate can make you the best version of yourself and give you courage to fight for what you care about.
Heartwarming and reaffirming . . . the kind of story we always need, these days perhaps more than ever....more
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