 I used to be a huge fan of Young Adult books. Back in 2009, when I started reviewing books, I’d be sure that on every trip to the library, I picked up at least one book from the teen section. There was a lot I had loved about being a teenager, and it was special to see those experiences recreated on the pages of books. The circumstances were different, of course, but the feelings were there. The tension between being a child and being an adult...the fear of being asked to grow up too quickly...the pride at being able to step into the world of business and academics...the startling wonder of falling in love...
And then, somewhere along the line, the trends got darker and more intense and I no longer saw much of myself at all in those stories. Instead, the middle grade that I had always loved became more and more mature, until I mentally (and often literally) had to label them as “Early Middle Grade” and “Upper Middle Grade.” The Upper Middle Grade category had more or less replaced what YA used to be. Change is inevitable, and while I could lament this one at more length, it serves little purpose. Publishers publish what they think will sell, and the consumers determine the market. Tastes vary. I was in the minority, apparently. I thought I was alone altogether. But I’m just beginning to see a shift, a shift that tells me that more and more consumers are hoping for YA books with a little more innocent love, a little less passion; a little less violence, a little more adventure. More wonder. More newness. More overcoming of that good old teenage angst and less of letting it define us. On the front lines of this shift are the books of Owl’s Nest Publishers—a fairly new publishing house that has impressed me tremendously with the quality and content of their books. So let’s move on the actual review part of this essay, shall we, before my soap box tumbles? Thread of Dreams, by Emily Barnett, is a YA fantasy about a girl named Nova who lives in a world called Lyra—a world with no sun, where the moon shines at night and darknight is a time where evil and danger lurks. Lyra is connected to Earth through a rift that allows Lyran harvesters, such as Nova, to enter the dreams of humans and harvest moments of these dreams as threads that provide energy and power in Lyra. The humans can’t see the Lyrans—or they shouldn’t be able to. But one day Nova enters the dream of a boy named Arlo, who very much sees her and very much wants to know what she’s doing in his subconscious. Alight with the possibility that the world is not so closed off and hopeless as the Ancients of Lyra would have her believe, Nova finds a way to visit Arlo again and again...until an accident puts them both—and possibly Nova’s entire world—at risk. C. S. Lewis once said, “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” Thread of Dreams is a good example of this. It feels wholly original and new to me. Yet it reminded me strongly of some of my favorite books: The Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time, even slightly of the more recent Lunar Chronicles. But it was not because Thread of Dreams was derivative in any way. Emily Barnett didn’t steal any plot points. She simply told the same truth. And some of those truths that Thread of Dreams tells are the very truths that drew me to the YA genre in the first place: Growing up means learning to let go of ourselves to find who we truly are. There is power in family and friendship and romantic love—different loves that we need at different moments. Wisdom lies in accepting oneself while still trying to better oneself. And the great, overarching truth: Love is stronger than hate. It will always overcome. Thread of Dreams releases on March 28, but you can pre-order it now from Owl's Nest, and I encourage you to do so! I highly recommend it for ages 12 (or a mature 11) and up.
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 Happy Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, everyone! I love stories that blend old-world legends with new-world settings, so I was thrilled to read the description of the recently-released The Selkie’s Daughter, by Linda Crotta Brennan:
A richly imagined fantasy set in Nova Scotia where a young girl—part selkie, part human—must save her family... Brigit knows all the old songs and legends of Neve, the daughter of the sea god; of the warrior Finn MacCool; and of people who are not quite human. But Brigit knows the truth. It’s evident in the webbing between her fingers– webbing that must be cut. She’s the daughter of a selkie. A truth she must keep secret from everyone. But someone in her village is killing young seals. Angering the king of the selkie clan, who vows revenge. A curse that will bring storm, sickness, and death. To protect those she loves, Brigit must find a way to Sule Skerrie, the land of selkies, to confront the Great Selkie and protect the young seals from harm. Like sitting by a warm fireplace, The Selkie’s Daughter is an imaginative fantasy, steeped in Celtic mythology and rich with detail. Perfect for fans of mermaids and Studio Ghibli-esque stories. A few things I especially loved: —the setting. I suppose L. M. Montgomery got me hooked on stories set in Eastern Canada. I also have ancestors from this part of the world, so it holds a special pull for me. Linda Crotta Brennan did a brilliant job of bringing the Nova Scotia coast to life, vividly and intriguingly. —the characters. Oh, Brigit was wonderful! Heroic and bold when she needed to be, but also quiet, compassionate, and conflicted. The secondary characters are complex and conflicted as well; Alys and Margaret, Brigit’s aunt and cousin are both caring and kind to Brigit while turning a blind eye to the evil in their immediate family. I loved Peter, the newcomer to the village and Brigit’s faithful friend, as well as his uncle Agnus, the village’s Catholic priest. In a time when books are saturated with Catholic priests turning out to be the bad guys, I was touched to see Father Agnus was a priest like the ones I know: balanced, generous, and possessed of a hearty sense of humor. —the pacing. I expected a slow story, to be honest. And while I won’t say that The Selkie’s Daughter was fast-paced and adventure-packed, its perfectly drawn out drama and tension left me wanting to turn page after page. I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next! All in all, this was a story I will heartily recommend and can’t wait to share with my children. For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, be sure to check out Always in the Middle!  As many of you know already, I have a dear love for vintage middle grade books. So I decided once a month to do a “throwback” review of a classic/vintage/backlist title that I think deserves a little extra attention. Up first... the WWII historical novel by my beloved Hilda van Stockum: The Borrowed House.
The Borrowed House was van Stockum’s favorite of all her books; I’m not sure she could ever supplant Friendly Gables in that #1 spot for me, but The Borrowed House definitely stands out from the author’s other work. Even though the first Mitchells’ book (The Mitchells: Five for Victory) is set during the Second World War, its American homefront location removes it from much of the immediacy and danger that is ever-present in the Germany/Netherlands setting of The Borrowed House. This one...is not for the faint of heart. Don’t get me wrong. I think The Borrowed House is a masterpiece and a brilliant piece of children’s literature. But I was expecting the light-hearted romps of the Mitchells and instead got a story told from the point of view of Janna, a Nazi Youth member who believes all Jews and Slavs are evil and inferior and she herself is the part of the godlike race destined to overcome all obstacles and rule the earth. Janna is interesting and complicated and good-hearted—but she has been trained to think herself superior and above the rules. Right within the first few pages, she lies to her guardian to get out of chores she dislikes, and laughingly explains to a Nazi friend why all Jews deserve to be punished for their evil ways. AND YET. Hilda van Stockum’s mastery of her craft is fully on display in these first few chapters. Because even as we recoil at Janna’s racist, entitled ways, we witness the indoctrination she has been subjected to. We see the neglect she has suffered, making her more likely to admire the leaders of the Nazi Youth movement, who praise and welcome her. When she reunites with her parents in the second chapter, we see that this complicated nature applies to them as well. Yes, her mother has been a neglectful mother and a less than perfect wife. Yes, her father is somewhat domineering and completely brainwashed by fascist propoganda. But they’re still real people with real hurts and real struggles and real victories. This attention to detail in her characters is what makes The Borrowed House stand out. There’s not a single character, down to a random train passenger or an SS guard, who isn’t given another facet of personality for us to see. Some characters are worse upon further inspection. Many are much better. More importantly, throughout the story we are given the chance to see the weaker characters, particularly Janna of course, develop and grow. Having no foreknowledge of this story, I was completely surprised and enchanted by some of the plot twists (okay, okay, I’m a writer on the look-out for certain twists, so let’s say more honestly that I was somewhat surprised and completely enchanted) I encountered midway through the book. Without spoiling it for all of you with too much detail, Janna meets a member of the Dutch resistance, a teenage boy who is forging documents to help smuggle Jewish people and other “undesirables” out of Holland. Encountering him forces Janna to face her prejudices and assumptions head-on, as he displays the virtues she recognizes as good and true and noble, while the more acceptable German family who shares her home displays qualities she rightly recognizes as reprehensible. A lot of people hate the ending of The Borrowed House. Again, no spoilers, but I thought it was perfect. It was a mature ending for a book intended for mature young readers. We’ve already had a good helping of neglect and brainwashing and prejudice and sexual harrassment and, you know, murder. So I could handle the loss of a different sort that Janna suffers at the book’s conclusion. It broke my heart as it broke Janna’s—but hard hearts need to break to make room for the love and goodness they were intended to feel. Losses are needed to make room for true gain, for moving forward in the right direction. For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, be sure to check out Always in the Middle!  They say don’t judge a book by its cover. I try not to. I do, however, judge most books—at least a smidgen—by their first sentence. And The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams begins with a five star string of words. “The first time I was stoned to death by an angry mob, I was not even a criminal.” I didn’t even mean to keep reading (I have a to-read list a mile long, after all!) but I couldn’t help myself after a sentence like that. I was immediately pulled along with Omar (soon nicknamed Monkey) and his delightful, wheedling, story-selling master Samir as they sell their wares and wheedle for their lives along the ancient Silk Road.
This story is hard to summarize without spoilers, as so much depends on you following along with Monkey’s spellbinding narration. So, just to be sure I don’t say too much, here is how the publisher took on this difficult task: This is the tale of an exciting journey along the Silk Road with a young Monk and his newfound guardian, Samir, a larger than life character and the so-called “Seller of Dreams”. The man is a scammer; his biggest skill being the ability to talk his way into getting what he wants. While that talking did save Monkey’s life, it has left a lot of people furious with Samir— furious enough to hire assassins. Monkey decides to try and save Samir from the attempts on his life—as a way to pay off his debt! If he can save Samir six times, he’ll be a free man...but will they all survive that long? I loved the drama. I loved the perfectly timed and humorously handled forays into philosophy. I loved Monkey, with his uptight and cautious ways, and I loved Samir (the Professor Harold Hill of the Silk Road, if ever there was one). And I loved the storytelling most of all. Like Nayeri’s masterpiece Everything Sad is Untrue, this book is full of beautiful scenes and beautiful sentences and beautiful sentiments. Storytellers, you have a lot to learn on its pages. Story lovers, I defy you not to be entranced. For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, visit Always in the Middle!  If my friend and fellow writer Anna Rose Johnson says I'll like a book… I probably will. (I think she's my mysterious reader twin.) So when she recommended the author Millie Florence, of course her new book magically floated to the top of my TBR pile. I hope you'll put it at the top of yours as well! In a few words, The Balter of Ashton Harper is: delightful. Old-fashioned. Humorous. Poignant. Most surprisingly, though, for a book that is so light-hearted and funny throughout, it ends with a serious kick of absolute, profound, life-changing meaning. As it happens, I read Balter during one of those weeks where a few of the artists in my home (myself included) were feeling a little uncertain, and a lot discouraged, about the art we're trying to make. Maybe that's the reason I cried while I read the last three chapters. Or maybe it was just that good. Here's the publisher's description: Ashton Harper has three problems and two of them are his sisters. First Drusilla, the oldest, who has decided that all she cares about is muslin and courtship. Second Zizi, the youngest, a stubborn optimist who is constantly pushing her brother outside his comfort zone, whether it’s in their dancing lessons or his disbelief in magic. And third, their invitation to audition for a ballroom dancing scholarship at the prestigious Overmorrow Academy of Arts, which could be either a dream come true or a hope-crushing failure. As a proud, sarcastic realist, Ashton is betting on the latter. The Harper siblings set out for Overmorrow, but their opportunity evaporates when mysterious magical ruins wreak havoc on the travelers. Ashton is separated from his sisters, trying to make sense of a power that he thought existed only in fairytales. Soon much more is at stake than attending the school of his dreams. A story of family and ambition, The Balter of Ashton Harper is woven with whimsy, hope, and Millie Florence’s signature light-hearted depth. Honestly, I have so much to learn about life and about the craft of writing from this lovely book. I am excited to read it again very soon when I read it aloud to my kids—with so many of them hoping to pursue art as a vocation, The Balter of Ashton Harper is going right onto our homeschool required reading list.
For more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday recommendations, check out Always in the Middle! |
About meHi! I'm Faith. I blog about books and creativity, family and faith. Welcome! Archives
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