MG Fantasy review of The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz

The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz
Format:  E ARC
Publisher:  Algonquin Young Readers
Number of Pages:  366
Publishing:   October 1st, 2019
Source:  Edelweiss Plus

Opening Lines: "Clementine Morcerous awoke one morning to discover that her father had no nose."  

The Dark Lord Elithor is under a curse and is slowly "whittling" away.  Clementine is determined to find the person responsible and reverse the curse before there is nothing left of him, but when you're an evil dark lord, you're bound to have made a few enemies.  

For hundred's of years Clementine's father has reigned over Castle Brack unchallenged, but now that he is indisposed,  Clementine must take over the day to day operations of the families estate, including all of the Dark Lord's responsibilities.  Everything from tending to the fire-breathing chickens and grooming the nightmares on the farm,  to performing the Dark Lord's dastardly deeds on the local villagers.  Lord Elithor has been preparing Clementine to take over, training her in the ways of being a proper Evil Lord, but Clementine isn't sure her dark magic skills are fully up to the task.  

At first, Clementine is concerned that she's not living up to the family name, feeling worthless, unsure of how she can help her father.  But, Clementine isn't easily discouraged from searching for answers and a cure for her father's curse.  As the curse takes further hold on her father, the magical charms on the farm and everything within the boundaries of the castle begins to change.  The magical scarecrows stop their chores, the witch in the kitchen has run away and the silence imposed on the farm by her father is weakening leaving the castle open for an attack.  Joining Clemintine on her adventure are an unusual, but humorous mix of characters;  there's Sebastian, a boy from the village who wants nothing more than to be a chivalrous knight,  Darka the unicorn huntress, Dave a book-loving, talking black sheep and Gricken the part grimoire part chicken, whose eggs contain magical spells.  Together they venture into the neighboring woods in search of the curse casting culprit.  

The Dark Lord Clementine has the kind of premise that I so love, with a character who's unpredictable, and not going to behave in a typical way that you'd expect.  I just adored Clementine and the way that she changed throughout the story.  How her search for answers to her father's curse allowed her to explore her own feelings about being the heir of Castle Brack and whether she really had what it takes to follow in her father's footsteps as an evil lord.  She does have all the makings of an evil lord, she's commanding, dignified, proper, but beneath that refined exterior is a girl that is also lonely.  Prior to meeting Darka, Sebastian and Dave, Clementine lived a very solitary life, a life that she no longer wants for herself.  Making new friends has taken on a new importance to her.   It's something that she's not willing to give up.  I so enjoyed the humorous way the story explored good versus evil and how happy thoughts and memories were the special ingredients needed for performing magical spells.  I'm hoping they'll be more stories for the Dark Lord Clementine.      

MG Realistic Fiction review of Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo

Beverly, Right Here by Kate DiCamillo
Format:  Paperback ARC

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Number of Pages: 256

Publishing  September 24th, 2019

Source:  Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Opening Line:  "Buddy died, and Beverly buried him, and then she set off toward Lake Clara."

In 1979 at the age of fourteen, Beverly Tapinski hitches a ride with her cousin Joe Travis out of town after her dog Buddy dies.  Beverly isn't simply running away, this was "leaving,"  an important distinction that she makes at the beginning of the story.  She's run away before, but now she's truly left.  Once she reaches Tamary Beach, Beverly gets her first job bussing tables at Mr. C's fish restaurant and meets Iola Jenkins, a kindly old lady living in the nearby trailer park.   Iola makes a deal with Beverly, in exchange for driving her around in her Pontiac, she'll give her a place to stay.  In order to distance herself from the pain over the loss of her dog, and an alcoholic mother who doesn't seem to care about her, she agrees to help Iola out.   Beverly puts on this tough exterior as if she doesn't care about or need anyone's help, she seems indifferent at first to any help that is offered to her.  What she needs is to immerse herself in her work bussing tables.  Then she witnesses Elmer from Zoom city convenience store being bullied by Jerome and something inside of Beverly stirs, opening her to the new possibility of companionship, comfort and a place where she belongs.  

Beverly, Right Here is the third book in Kate DiCamillo's trio of books that began with  Raymie Nightingale and was followed by Louisiana's Way Home.   I haven't yet read Raymie Nightingale, but after reading Louisiana's Way Home, I knew I wanted to read Beverly's story.  I also plan to go back and read Raymie Nightingale because I really do wish I knew more about Buddy and Raymie.  Beverly feels his loss from the very moment that she buried him near her house with Raymie, but I feel like I missed so much by not having read these books in order, so I'm going to fix that mistake real soon.   

 In her introductory letter to the reader, DiCamillo says that Raymie Nightingale was "about the saving grace of friendship, Louisiana's Way Home was about deciding who you are, and Beverly, Right Here was about acting on the knowledge of who you are.  Together all three books are about the power of community."  For me, that's my take away from her latest book, community.  DiCamillo really has this knack of drawing you in through the characters that she creates and their interactions, they're all so easily relatable and their stories stick with you, draw on your emotions.  There's the simple charm of a young girl who is grieving, so sad over her dog's death, and lonely over her mother's abandonment due to her alcoholism.  And then to have her meet Iola and Elmer and we get to see Beverly's tough exterior begin to weaken.  She moves from these simple short one-word answers that she gives to Freddie (the waitress at the fish restaurant) to the longer more in-depth conversations that she has with Elmer and Iola.  It's the kind of story that I can see myself reading over and over again if only to experience the love and kindness that Iola gives to Beverly again.  

Finally, I love how the events, objects, and people that Beverly encounters at the beginning of the story develop into these lovely scenes later on.  Especially the significance of the passage that Beverly reads in the phone booth and how she ends up sharing it with Elmer.    And although the ending didn't feel complete, it does feel hopeful.  Beverly's future isn't set in stone,  it's what she will make of it.  How she chooses to live it and who she wants to include in her life.  Her future may be uncertain, but she seems to be off to a good start.

Favorite quote from the ARC:

 “Imagine if you hadn’t found my trailer. Imagine if I didn’t need someone to drive the Pontiac. Then me and you wouldn’t’ve become friends, and you wouldn’t know how to dance. Oh, I’m glad I needed you. I’m glad you needed me.”

 “I didn’t really need you,” said Beverly.

 “Yes, you did, honey,” said Iola. 

“Yes, you did,” said Elmer from the back seat. 

“Okay,” said Beverly. “Whatever you people say.”

MG review of Polly and Buster: The Wayward Witch & the Feelings Monster by Sally Rippin

Polly and Buster:  The Wayward Witch & the Feelings Monster 
Format:  Paperback
Publisher:  First Published in Australia June 2017 by Hardie Grant Egmont.

Published in the US:  2019 by Kane Miller, a division of EDC Publishing 

Number of Pages:  280

Source:  Review copy provided by the Publisher

Series: First book of the Polly and Buster Series

Opening Lines:  "Polly Proggett is terrible at spells, which is rather unfortunate when you're a witch."

The weather has been getting much colder so when a request came in to read a story about a young witch and monster who are friends, I eagerly jumped at the chance.  

Polly and Buster are next-door neighbors and secretly the bestest of friends.  Which wouldn't be a problem if witches and monsters were supposed to be friends, but they aren't.  Even their parents have been discouraging them from playing together, so most of the time Buster and Polly don't say anything to one another.   On the way to school, Buster sits at the back of the bus and Polly sits with the witches upfront.  If they ever cross paths, they ignore each other and keep right on walking.  Yet, every day after school they still meet at the top of their favorite tree to reminiscence about their day.  Buster doesn't tease Polly about messing up her spells and Polly is comforting for Buster, he can truly express his feelings with her.  Feelings that cause him to grow when he's happy and shrink when he's sad.  Feelings that seem to match what Polly is feeling.    

Then one day Polly's class takes a trip to the art gallery.  At first, things are going well, Polly and the most popular girl in her class, Malorie seem to be hitting it off talking about drawing and art.  But then they run into Buster's class.  Buster is so surprised to see Polly that he forgets the rule of ignoring each other and waves excitedly while calling out Polly's name.  At first, Polly tries to ignore Buster, pretending she doesn't see or hear him,  which only leads to his feelings getting hurt.  When Buster's feelings are hurt, he starts to shrink and his classmates begin to notice and start to tease him.  Polly becomes so angry by their teasing that she surprisingly unleashes a protective spell, stunning everyone including Polly.  She's never cast a spell before.  Malorie believes that Polly's spell was actually to protect her from the monsters and she begins to tell everyone how Polly saved her from the terrible mean monster.  This leads to a huge misunderstanding between witches and monsters.  What is Polly to do now?  Should she tell everyone that monsters aren't mean, should she tell everyone that she and Buster are really friends?  

Polly and Buster weren't supposed to be friends on account of monsters and witches not getting along.  But their friendship just tugs at your heartstrings.  Polly is insecure about her inability to cast spells, she seems to believe that the reason the words swim across the page for her is due to not focusing as hard as the rest of her classmates.  As a speech pathologist, it was pretty clear to me that she's dyslexic, but for a young reader, this wasn't really explained as clearly as I would've hoped.  Maybe this is addressed in the next book, but I really wished that she would've received some help from her teacher Miss Spinnaker, who reads as a kind and understanding teacher and would've been the perfect person to help Polly with her dyslexia.

And Buster, the kind-hearted feelings monster who illustrates that having and expressing feelings are okay.  That being teased and bullied is not okay and the importance of standing up for your friend.  Although Polly initially was lured by the promise of friendship with one of the popular kids, she begins to realize that Buster's is a friendship worth fighting for.                       

Not only is the story a testament to the power of friendship and the importance of standing up for one another, it also weaves in some pretty heavy topics from the times of segregation and during World War II when the Jewish people were persecuted and forced to wear identifying badges.  Rippin does present these with great care and gears them toward the attended audiences age.  I can really see the story being used for classroom discussions on these topics.  Happily, the author and publisher have included numerous discussion questions, teacher tips and games, and activities on their website for teachers to use in conjunction with telling the story.  I'm looking forward to reading Polly and Buster and The Mystery of the Magic Stones next.      

MG Fantasy review of Malamander by Thomas Taylor, illustrated by Tom Booth

Malamander by Thomas Taylor
Format:  E-ARC
Publisher:  Walker Books US  
Number of Pages:  320
Publishing in the US:  September 10th, 2019 
Source:  Publisher via Netgalley

Series: The Legends of Eerie-on-Sea

Opening Lines:  "You've probably been to Eerie-on-Sea, without ever knowing it."

In the summer the town of Eerie-on-Sea is bustling with tourists, but during the winter all of the beachcombers have left and the town is quiet again.   Not far from the pier, you'll find the Grand Nautilus Hotel.  And just shy of the hotel's reception desk,  within a small cubbyhole is twelve-year-old Herbie Lemon, resident Lost-and Founder hard at work matching lost things to their owners.  Then one day Violet unexpectedly comes climbing through his cellar window pleading for Herbie to hide her.  Violet hastily climbs into a trunk while Herbie throws lost coats on top hoping to disguise her location.  Then the manager of the hotel, Mr. Mollusc and a man in a sailor's coat with a large iron boat hook for a hand show up demanding to know where she's hiding.  After searching the room and coming up empty-handed, they leave and Violet returns shortly thereafter requesting Herbie's help once again, this time to find her parents.  When Violet was only a baby, her parents disappeared while staying at the hotel.  Violet was shipped off to an Aunt but is now back looking for answers.  Soon Violet and Herbie set out to uncover any possible clues to their disappearance and somehow become entangled in the local legend of the mysterious Malamander, a monster that is half-man and half-fish.                
     
Malmander is the first book in the Legends of Eerie-on-Sea series. It's sorta reminiscent of Lemony Snicket and maybe even a little Pseudonymous Bosch, especially The Name of This Book is Secret because of the early caution to "close this book and lock it in a tin box and cast it off the pier."  Advice that I chose to disregard.  When I saw the cover my interest was instantly piqued.  Usually, the fantasy stories I enjoy reading take place in settings where the characters are traipsing through the mountainside, attending magical schools, even within castles and old houses.  Well, I think I've found a new setting to add to the list, a salty seaside town.  Eerie-on-Sea is mysterious and filled with quirky people and places. There's a Book Dispensary where a tophat wearing mermonkey will fill your book prescription and select the book you need to read.  It's also a tad eerie place because it comes with its own legendary monster, the Malamander.  I have to admit that at first, I thought the monster was just this legend created to keep the troublesome kids away from the wreckage of the Leviathan, but it turns out the monster was much more than that.  And certainly more dangerous.     
   
Malamander is told from Herbie Lemon's perspective and is predominantly about Violet's search for her parents and the monster.  Herbie strikes me as kind, caring and intelligent, with a somewhat mysterious past of his own.  Five years ago he washed up on the shore of Eerie-on-Sea in a crate of lemons, with no knowledge of his past, not even his own name.  The owner of the Grand Nautilus Hotel gave him his name and set him up as the caretaker of the Lost and Foundery.  A job that Herbie takes very seriously.  Now, Violet, she's a wild-haired, brave girl who's ready for adventure.  She's rash where Herbie is more analytical.  But one thing is for sure, Violet is determined to find out exactly what happened to her parents.  Sometimes her choices lead to more danger for the two of them.  As they delve further into the mystery, their quest takes them all over the town of Eerie-on-Sea, even face to face with the legendary Malamander.  And although they don't find all the answers to what happened to Violet's parents, it's still a very satisfying story.  I suspect that some of this will be resolved in future books.   If you're looking for a mystery with a unique setting, quirky people, and lovely illustrations, I'd certainly give Malamander a read.  I certainly can't wait to see what adventures these two have next.  

MG Fantasy review of The Little Grey Girl (The Wild Magic Trilogy #2) by Celine Kiernan

The Little Grey Girl (The Wild Magic Trilogy #2) by Celine Kiernan
Format:  Paperback ARC

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Number of Pages: 224

Publishing  September 3rd, 2019

Source:  Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Opening Lines: "The old queen was not dead.  That much was certain."

Begone the Raggedy Witches is the first book in The Wild Magic Trilogy by Irish author Celine Kiernan and The Litle Grey Girl continues the trilogy.  

After having successfully defeated her mother causing her to flee Witches Borough with some of her raggedy witches, Mam moves Mup, her Dad and Tipper to her mother's now vacant castle within the Glittering Land.  Since the queen's departure there continues to be significant unrest in the kingdom and the queen's subjects have grown untrusting of Mup's mother.  Many fear that the queen is lurking somewhere nearby plotting her revenge and feel that Mam won't be able to protect them.  Even the remaining raggedy witches who helped in the battle to defeat the queen are starting to doubt whether they picked the right side.  Despite all of this, Mup's mam had no initial plans to take over as the new queen but is forced into the role by Fi'rinne, a clan leader.  While Mup's mam is busy trying to bring order to the kingdom, Mup spends time with her younger brother Tipper, and her best friend Crow, a young boy who can transform into a raven.  It is on their first day in the castle that Mup witnesses a little girl clad in grey clothing near the dungeon that she was once held captive in not too long ago, and also meets Doctor Emberly, one of the remaining ghosts in her grandmother's castle.  Things take a dramatic turn when snow suddenly begins to fall cutting the castle off from the rest of the kingdom and a deep sadness begins to grip its inhabitants.  Who or what has taken hold within the castle?  Has the queen put a curse on them?

The Little Grey Girl is a heartwarming story that weaves in the ideas of speaking up for change and the importance of letting go of fear so change can be possible.   Overcoming oppression is another dominant theme, illustrated by Mam's actions in trying to release the kingdom from her mother's tyrannical reign.  She works hard to help them to realize that they no longer need to live in fear.  That together, united they're strong enough to combat anything that the queen might have planned.  She doesn't want to be their queen and have them fear or bow down to her, she wants them to voice their opinions.  

 I quite liked Mup, she appears to be a gentle soul who cares deeply about protecting her family and vows that nothing will hurt them again.  Mup and her best friend, Crow struggle over good versus evil, and whether evil deeds should be punished, sometimes this causes a rift between them.  When Mup has a moment where she feels sorry for Naomi, a raggedy witch in the castle, Crow begins to distance himself from her.  His anger stems from the witches having killed his father and he doesn't trust Naomi's motives.  In his eyes, no good can come from helping them.  The witches had performed evil deeds and he feels they should be punished.  It's easy to sympathize with Crow's feelings yet also be sad when he gets angry at Mup.  I believe that Crow is scared that Mup is becoming a witch and it worries him.    

Beneath all of this, there's also an underlying eerieness to the story when the darkness and sadness appear in the castle, especially when messages and drawings are scrawled on the wall and the castle's subjects are filled with sorrow, wracked with bouts of uncontrollable tears.   The tension builds as Mup and Crow fear this presence, or when the grey girl takes on the shape of a dark twisty character, angry over the pains of the past and bent on vengeance.  They're desperately trying to find the means to appease her anger, to right the wrongs that were done in the past.  I quite enjoyed how Kiernan chose to resolve the story.  The Little Grey Girl does present some weighty subjects, but there is also a nice balance of humor and moments that allow  Mup and Crow's friendship and devotion to each other shine.  Looking forward to the final book in the trilogy to see what happens next.

Favorite lines from the ARC:  

   " Only a real friend could hug you when you were sad without expecting your tears to stop just to please them.  Only a real friend could help make your tears stop when you needed the sadness to go away.  A friend might not be able to draw you a map, but they can always walk with you as you find your own way out of the dark."      

       

MG Historical Fiction review of Sweet Home Alaska By Carole Estby Dagg

Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg
Format:  Paperback
Publisher:  Puffin Books 
Number of Pages:  304
Published:  July 16th, 2019 (paperback)
Source:  Publisher via Blue Slip Media 

Opening Lines: "It was because Terpsichore was the only unmusical Johnson that she dragged a hatchet across the yard toward a pumpkin as big as a pickle barrel."  

It's 1934 and the mill in Little Bear Lake, Wisconsin has closed.  Work has become scarce and Pop is concerned about being able to put food on the table.  Some of Terpsichore's neighbors have had to go on relief, sell off their valuables or even take charity from relatives, but Pop is determined to go it alone.   Then he hears of a New Deal Project that President Roosevelt is starting,  Pop is very excited about the prospect, but Mother is reluctant to leave behind her piano and electricity to rough it in Alaska.  However, she eventually agrees to give it one year.  Hoping to make a new start, the family sets out for Palmer, Alaska, but once they arrive circumstances are not what they thought.  For one, they will be living in tents until their house is built and most of the town is still under construction.  There's not even a school, church or hospital staff yet.  Despite all of this, Terpsichore loves her new home and is eager to develop its first library, but convincing Mother to stay is her next biggest challenge.

Sweet Home Alaska takes place shortly after the Great Depression just as President Roosevelt announced his New Deal and the Matanuska Colony project, a homesteading endeavor where families received a parcel of land in Palmer, Alaska to build a home and farm.  The story follows the Johnson family over the course of about a year as they settle into their new community.   In places, this really has the feel of the Little House on the Prarie books, which Terpsichore even makes references to during the story.  It's a glimpse into a different historical time period of out-houses, cooking without electricity, canning salmon and developing a town from the ground up.  There's the day to day musings of life in Palmer and the worry as winter gets closer and the reality that their house needs to be finished before the snow comes.  Terpsichore's mother is not happy about the move, she's very negative about the town and all of the things she perceives it's lacking.  Living in a tent puts a strain on her, whereas the rest of the family seems to be settling in just fine.  Terpsichore is excited about the potential for making her very own library and loves cataloging and checking out her books.  Together with some of her new friends she develops a Library Action Committee and sets out to raise money to purchase more books and magazines.  Overall there aren't any dramatic moments, but lots of positive messaging of children who are helpful, resourceful and a lovely sense of community.  

Life for the family in Alaska does include some initial hardships like the mosquitoes, horseflies, mud and long days of sunlight.  Much of the land where their house was to be built is forested, which took large crews and equipment to clear.  There are some details about the wildflowers found in Alaska like the spiky lupine, bluebells, and firewood blossoms, and mountain ranges surrounding the town but surprisingly absent are any interactions with moose, bear or any of the birds found in Alaska.  I would have also loved some interactions with the snow and cold winters and some explorations/playing outdoors, but truthfully the kids were way too busy for that.  However, I did learn how large some of their vegetables grow in Alaska, especially Terpsichore's pumpkins.  Who knew?  

There's an author note at the end explaining the initial inspiration for the story, a 1930's house her son purchased in Palmer, Alaska and a detailed resource list of some of the sources she used.  There are even recipes for the pumpkin oatmeal cookies and jellied moose nose mentioned in the story.  I also appreciated that the author's note explained her reasoning for not including interactions between the indigenous Alaskan people and the homesteaders, how in researching the topic she was unable to find any materials or references to their interactions and chose then not to include any interactions.  There's also a Curriculum Guide at Carole Estby Dagg's website with plenty of discussion questions and activities to incorporate into the classroom.  Overall this is a very lovely immersion into a historical time period for which I didn't know very much, I especially enjoyed the inclusion of pieces of FDR's Fireside chat and learning of Will Rodgers trip to Palmer.  A unique pioneering story.  

                

MG Review of Carnival Catastrophe (The Problim Children #2) by Natalie Lloyd

Carnival Catastrophe (The Problim Children #2) by Natalie Lloyd
Format:  Hardcover

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Number of Pages: 320

Published  June 25th, 2019

Source:  Purchased

Opening Line "The wind came as a night visitor, sneaking through the town of Lost Cove like a clumsy bandit."

Carnival Catastrophe returns to House #7 in the town of Lost Cove.   Papa Problim has returned home but danger still lurks in their small town.  Desdemona O'Pinion continues to threaten to send the Problim children to seven different homes on seven different continents and Mama is still missing.  The Problim children are no closer in deciphering grandpa Problim's riddle to find the last three twigs they need to complete a water witch to find his lost treasure and hopefully Mama.  While they continued to search for clues, it became clear that the answers they seek are leading them toward Pirate Cove.  Could mama be in one of the caves?  Luckily this year's Corn Dog Carnival's grand prize is a trip to the Cove for all of the carnival's winner's.  Hoping to win one of the spots on the boat, each of the Problim's enter one of the contests.  Can they win the coveted prize and rescue mama?  

Mona continues to be my favorite character.  She reminds me a little of The Grinch, Pippi Longstocking, Matilda, and Wednesday from the Addams Family.  I love how Violet describes her as a "thundercloud, pretty but kind of scary."  The way she rolls her eyes, how she can be moody, sometimes blunt with her words, sneaky and how rain is her favorite weather.  And how she's always plotting her next dastardly deed.  Pranks are one of her specialties, and where Carly-Rue is concerned, she owes her rival a revenge prank for Carly-Rue and her mom trying to kick them out of town.   But when Mona's prank goes a bit too far, she starts to worry that she might be seen by her friends and family as a bully or a villain.  Usually, it's not in her nature to worry about what other people think of her, but now she's becoming more introspective, taking into account other people's feelings.  She really doesn't want to seem cruel or unkind.  As in the first book, I love the bond that the Problim children have with one another, each child has their own strengths, and are always looking out for one another.  There's even a fun riddle to solve, hijinks at the carnival and beautiful messaging about finding one "good truth" to tell someone, and that it's important to lead with the good.    

Favorite line:   "I believe everyone has their own song playing deep in their soul.  When you hear the music they make, you see a very vulnerable part of their heart."