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5. Ash, by Malinda Lo. This is a different take on the Cinderella story. There are many common elements with the well-known fairy tale: Ash, or Aisling, is a happy, contented girl until her mother and, later, her father dies. Her stepmother makes Ash a servant to pay off her father’s debts. Ash serves both the [...]
A bit behind in my reading this year, only four books so far. Reading a fifth (called “Ash,” a take on the Cinderella story) now. Going Bovine, by Libba Bray — My first book finished for the year. A very interesting read. It’s been compared to a mondern-day Don Quixote, and that’s as good a [...]
Hatter M., by Frank Beddor. I had really been looking forward to this graphic novel spinoff of “Looking Glass Wars” and “Seeing Redd” — which are excellent “alternate fantasies” to “Alice in Wonderland.” This was a bit disappointing. There were some bright spots of dry humor with Hatter M, one of the neatest characters Beddor [...]
Sean McCartney brings the first in his adventure series for 8 to 14 year olds to the Learned Owl Book Shop Nov. 6 from 2 to 4 p.m. The Treasure Hunters’ Club: Secrets of the Magical Medallions follows four ordinary 8th graders on a quest to recover two ancient and powerful stones. McCartney is a teacher [...]
The third, and looks like final, book of The Looking Glass Wars. The conclusion to this alternate take on Alice in Wonderland felt a bit rushed and choppy. It wasn’t horrible, but it was the weakest of the three books. King Arch, at the end of the last book, attacked the Heart Crystal, and its [...]
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, by Kevin Wilson. 2010 Alex Award. This is a collection of short stories, each seemingly in a mundane setting, but with an added twist. For example, my favorite, Grand Stand-In, you have scenes of people talking, and occasionally complaining about their jobs. Sounds normal — except their jobs [...]
The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. 2010 Alex Award. An interesting if depressing book. I do wonder if there will be more in this universe; there’s enough material and unanswered questions. It has magic, so it could be called a story for those who want something grittier and more raw than the Harry Potter series. There [...]
Sharp Teeth, by Toby Barlow. 2009 Alex Award. A werewolf story, with a few twists. One, the story is written (very effectively) in free verse. This makes for a powerfully told and rapid-paced read. There are a lot of interlacing stories, along with an intriguing mystery. First, there’s the gentle dogcatcher Anthony who befriends a [...]
Marissa Jordan, who graduated from Twinsburg High School in 2007, recently completed a second novel, a sequel to her previous book, which she had published shortly after her graduation. Her second book, A Faery’s Tale II, was released earlier this month. “It was quite an adventure to have two books out by age 20,” Jordan [...]
The Dragons of Babel, by Michael Swanwick. 2009 Alex Award. I can best describe this story as a Gotham City meets Dungeons and Dragons. You don’t read a lot of fantasty stories that mention elves and haints in one chapter, then Blackberries and El trains in the next. When reading the first few chapters, I [...]