Wherein Beauty Kills the Beast

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

In the novel Cruel Beauty we find a whole new “beauty’ and a very strange beast.  The beast is known to his people as the “gentle lord” who keeps them cut off from the rest of the world via magic spell-one that seals the whole town in a different dimension from the rest of the world.  The current king made a deal with the Gentle Lord-if his wife could conceive, he would give the child to the Gentle Lord on her 17^th birthday.  The king ended up with twin girls.  The firstborn was set aside to be given away, while the second was cherished.  The first child, Nyx, is trained her whole life to kill the Gentle Lord and set the kingdom free from his evil spell.  The book opens at the moment of truth-her 17^th birthday.

There were a lot of aspects to like in this book.  The first was that it wasn’t set in France.  The second is that our “Belle” is a deeply flawed person.  She resents her family and her life, making her the opposite of the doe-eyed optimist we usually see.  The love triangle wasn’t my favorite, but I LOVED that both guys were deeply flawed.  They had opposite personalities, but in the end neither was “better” than the other.

I stayed up way too late reading this, and I would recommend it to any fairy tales fan.

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

by Jean Lee Latham

Nat Bowditch is a little known American historical figure around the time of the Revolutionary War.  The book starts out with Nat as a child excited about school and especially about his best subject: Math.  Unfortunately Nat's career in school is short lived due to his family's poverty.  At 12 he is indentured to a Chandler (someone who sells everything a ship would need) and has to give up all dreams of further schooling.  In his job at the Chandlery Nat learns every thing he possibly can get his mind around on any and every subject.  Eventually Nat becomes a skilled navigator and spends most of his time teaching others the art.  Along the course of his teaching, Nat finds the charts they currently use are riddled with errors leading to the loss of ships and sets out to publish The New American Practical Navigator still known as the Sailor's Bible today.

Audience
5th and 6th grad boys will love it best.  This book will be perfect for anyone who loves Johnny Tremaine.

What I Love:
1) I love this book's view of education.  Nat was heartbroken about not returning to school, but educated himself to the extent that he was awarded an honorary Harvard degree.
2)I like that Nat took accountability for everything in his life and bettered his circumstance instead of complaining,
3) The title is taken from an oft repeated line by Nat's captain, Captain Price.  I love when adults are shown as wise and caring.  His support enabled Nat's legacy.

The Tale of Desperaux

by Kate DiCamillo



Desperaux is a very small mouse with very large ears.  He lives in the castle and is a complete failure at being a mouse.  He doesn't like hunting or eating books-he likes reading books.  His favorites are about the knights that save the princess.  Shortly thereafter he falls in love with Princess Pea and learns the truth of how powerful love really is.  Along the way he learns love for many others, including a serving girl, a prison guard, a rat, a brokenhearted king, and his own family.

Audience: 2nd Grade, Vocabulary 4th Grade

What I Love:
This story is about real love.  The characters are flawed and sometimes absurd.  They hurt each other and make mistakes, but they forgive and move forward.  I found countless priceless lines throughout the story.  The theme has to do with Light v. Dark and how we choose which one we will keep.  I feel every child and most adults need to read this book.

Caution:
Every single character comes from a broken family.

Princess Academy

by Shannon Hale

Miri gets word very suddenly that the Prince's bride will come from their rural area, so all the elegible young women are sent to a "Princess Academy."  Lifelong camaraderie is challenged when the girls find themselves in competition, but Miri is determined that the strength of the community can overcome anything, even this jealousy.  Add to this the untapped powers of the mountain they live on, and it's an epic coming of age fantasy.

Audience:
Girls about 3rd grade and up, but the reading level is around 5th grade

What I Love:
The girls are all so smart and strong, not to mention independent.  They are also about as awkward as teenagers.

Cautions:
This is written younger than her other books.  There are almost no male protagonists.

Castle in the Attic

by Elizabeth Winthrop

It's been a lot of years since I read this one, so I'm copying and pasting the summary from wikipedia, but I loved this book as a kid.  As soon as the reserve comes in from the library I'm reading it again.

William is given a realistic model of a castle by the housekeeper, Mrs. Philips, who tells him that it has been in her family for many many years and that its silver knight is said to be under a spell. The silver knight, Sir Simon, comes to life and tells William stories about olden times and an evil wizard who is ruling his kingdom. Desperate to stop Mrs. Philips from going away, William has Sir Simon shrink her with a magic token he stole from the wizard, Alastor. However, William and Sir Simon lack the ability to return Mrs. Philips to her true size as the half of the token that can do so is with Alastor, and Mrs. Philips falls into a depression. Learning of a legend that states that when there is a lady, a knight, and a squire, a quest can be undertaken to stop Alastor, William decides to become a squire to undo his mistake. As he will be shrunk willingly, he will return to his world at the exact moment he left, but Mrs. Philips will lose all the time she spent in the castle until William enters. William has Sir Simon shrink him and he enters the castle to join his two friends.

Audience
I think once you are a fluent reader you can read this (3rd grade or so)

What I Love:
This all makes sense!  There's a reason William is so good at medieval skills, and the magic is even logical.  It's easy to believe and the characters are all endearingly flawed.  I can barely remember the story, but I remember well how much I love Sir Simon.  This is one of those books everyone tells me gets better when you read 

Caution:
This is heavy medieval fantasy.  If it's not your cup of tea move on

Brotherband Chronicles

by John Flanagan


Ahh memories, memories.  This is a continuation of the series that inspired this book.  Honestly, I love the Rangers Apprentice Series and I love this one even more.  It's about a group of boys in Scandia coming together for the Brotherband Games.  In Scandia this is how boys are trained for the tasks they will assume as Vikings (I mean Scandians.)  The main character, Hal, is half Araluen and half Scandian.  He rallies the misfits of the age bracket and figures out how to make them an unbreakable team.

Audience
These are written for middle grades (6-8) and should appeal to anyone ages 11-16.

What I Love:
These characters are so heartwarming and crazy at the same time.  I love that the boys are all different and have to work to overcome conflict.  Erak is a frequent character, and the adults of this series are as charming as the children.  I laugh out loud at some of the dialogue and I'm frequently holding my breath hoping the characters will make the right choice.  The writing in these is much improved from the Rangers Apprentice

Cautions:
The female characters, where they exist, are pretty minor.  The romance-don't read for that.  Read for fun and adventure.

Series
The Outcasts
The Hunters
The Invaders
More to Come...

Strega Nona

Tommy DePaola

These are the stories of an Italian Witch Grandma and her grandson Anthony.  Strega Nona is wise and kind (and a bit snarky) but Anthony is not always good at listening to her.  Anthony has adventures that end peacefully with his grandmother's guidance

Audience
I'd start reading it aloud to children in 1st or 2nd grade.  They will still be interesting to 4th/5th graders

What I Love About It
1) The pictures.  They are intracate and gorgeous.  Tommy DePaola is a genius.
2) Dialogue.  It's a little stitlted in places, but I always have reading it aloud.
3) The story is cute.  It makes me smile

Cautions
1) Anthony is pretty dumb
2) Strega Nona is portrayed as all knowing, a little flat

Series
Stega Nona
Strega Nona's Magic Lessons
Merry Christmas, Strega Nona
Strega Nona's Harvest
Strega Nona Meets Her Match
Strega Nona Takes a Vacation
Strega Nona: Her Story

Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: The Promise

by Michael DiMartino and Brian Koneitzko

Okay, okay, I confess, I'm cheating!!!! But I can't help it!  Avatar: The Last Airbender is a television show that ran from 2005-2008.  The title of the blog says Jana's Books but this is good enough I'd be remiss not to recommend it here.

The world of Avatar draws heavily on Asian/Eastern culture.  It has 4 different societies or cultures, each growing up around one of the four elements-air, water, earth, and fire.  Those with a particular talent may be able to 'bend' their native element.  There should always be one Avatar living at a time who is an exception to this rule he (or she) has the ability to master all four elements.

At the opening of the story, the Fire Nation started their conquest for world domination 100 years ago.  No one has seen or heard of the Avatar in all this time.  Katara, a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe is fishing with her brother Sokka when she comes across an iceberg with someone trapped inside.  She frees him and the pair learn quickly that this kid is the Avatar.  Aang is a flighty, goofy 12 year old boy who wants to have fun and prefers to flee responsibility when he can.

Unfortunately Aang's reappearance is noted by Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation.  Prince Zuko's single minded purpose in life is to capture the Avatar for his nation in order to regain his honor.  He is angry and overly dramatic, but somehow vulnerable and endearing even from the first episode.  Aang and his new friends travel the world helping Aang learn to become the Avatar, while Zuko stalks a step behind.

After the series ends the graphic novels pick up.  I love the post-war stories where the Gaang (Aang's group, it's funny dangit, laugh!) finds waging peace is so much harder than ending a war.  They return with all their vivacity and stumbling wisdom. I strongly recommend The Promise to everyone who loves Avatar-I got choked up in that one too.

What I Love:  This list will be very long
1) None of the characters are flat.  Katara seems at the beginning to be your stereotypical heroine, but you start to see that she is so much more complex than that.  Iroh is Zuko's goofy, lazy uncle.  But when things get tough he shows his true colors.  I want to be Iroh when I grow up.  Sokka may provide comic relief but we see him grow from cocky teenage boy into a true leader.  There are 5 main protagonists  and we see each of them go through a coming of age journey
2) Again, the adults are not stupid.  There's a legitimate reason the children and not the adults are responsible for saving the world.  Come to think of it, not all the adults are that intelligent in this show.  Not all the kids are either.  All the characters are individual with their own strengths and weaknesses.
3) Cultural Diversity.  There are four main cultures and they are all very different.  Sometimes they're at conflict and sometimes they work together.  Either way they have to work at understanding each other.  I love that each culture has different values.  The Water Tribe values community above all else, whereas the Earth Kingdom values individuality.  Not necessarily opposites, but incorporating both is hard.
4) The love stories made me happy.  Not sayin' more than that.
5) My friend said the ending was more perfect than it possibly could have been.  I agree.  I'm not telling you a single thing that happens, but the ending was a perfectly happy moment in my life.
6) Relationships.  This includes more than romance.  I love the brother/sister relationships in this show.  I love the way families are portrayed.  Not all families are strong/stable in this story.  Even the ones that are have their struggles.  I like that it doesn't resolve family problems for the characters.  It merely presents what families are like.  One of the themes is that you are never indifferent about your family.  Love them or hate them, they will always be part of you.
7) The Issues.  I think this show stays child safe, but it tackles a lot in a child safe way.  We see repressive government, child abuse, treachery, hatred, grief, war crimes, war, and myriad other dilemmas.  This waters nothing down.  It also doesn't explore the darker side of these themes and is never graphic in what they show.  But do we really protect children by showing them only the good side of life?  I love this for the truth that goodness can be at it's strongest in these trying circumstances.  In reality the portrayal of social issues is optimistic because no matter how bad the bad is, good still has a chance to win.
8) The good guys don't win every single fight.  Sometimes they do everything right, but it still doesn't work out.  We love the characters more when we can relate, and there is genuine suspense.  They don't even win all the important fights.  The characters suffer devastating losses and then they put themselves back together and keep up the good fight.  I cried some big tears in this show.

9) Disability.  This is the one and only time I have fully loved the portrayal of a disabled character.  She is independent and able to manage for herself.  Managing her disability is something she doesn't think about day to day.  She just lives her life.  But she also has limitations.  I hate the Professor X from X-Men doesn't have any problems from not being able to walk.  Toph may have some special abilities because she's blind, but she also can't read and needs help from sighted people from time to time.  She is also comfortable with who she is.  I see a lot of myself in her and I love having a strong, but real, disabled character.

10) There is an array of diverse, strong female characters

Cautions
1) In season three the 15/16 year old characters are sexually active.  I'm almost positive kids couldn't pick up on that, but it's there.
2) Goofiness.  Yes, my cautions are still things I love.  I love that our 12-16 year old ensemble acts their ages.  Do you remember how suave you were in middle school?  Yeah, it's like that.  The romance especially is awkward, as it should be.  Also, the kids mess around a lot.  My favorite episode-"Ember Island Players" is almost nothing but awkwardness.  It makes me laugh and it makes me happy I'm not still there.
3) As mentioned above, the hard issues are here.  Abusive families, war crimes, bereavement, genocide, oppression, we've got it.  That said, I'm excited to show it to my 6 year old nephew because it's handled with such a light touch I don't think he'll notice those issues without knowing what to look for.

I'm excited to have these on dvd because when I have children, I want them to grow up with this story.
   

The Little White Horse

by Elizabeth Goudge

Maria Merryweather becomes an orphan at age 13, upon her father's death in 1842. She is sent to the Moonacre Manor somewhere in the west of England, accompanied by her governess Miss Heliotrope and dog Wiggins. There she finds herself in a world out of time. Her cousin and guardian Sir Benjamin Merryweather is one of the "sun" Merryweathers, and she loves him right away, as sun and moon Merryweathers do. Maria discovers that there is an ancient mystery about the founding of the estate.  An ancient wrong needs to be righted, and to do that, the Merryweathers will have to sacrifice their pride.
Audience
Children will love this more than adults.  It's for 3-5th graders.  There is some British speak in there that younger Americans might need help with.

Why I Love This Book

1) The story is intriguing.  It took me almost as long as Maria to put together the mystery
2) It has a strong moral center-right and wrong are very clear
3) I found the characters to be endearing

Cautions

1) This book is unashamedly Christian

2) The characters are a little flat.  Nice and funny, but flat

3) This book is very cheesy.  It made me happy though.

4) 'The Secret of Moonacre' based on this book, is different.  Some of the story is the same, but most of the characters are very different.

House of Many Ways

by Dianna Wynne Jones


This is the last book in the Howl's Moving Castle series.  I think this one may have been my favorite.  Charmain Baker is asked to take care of her Great Uncle's house while he goes to recuperate from some disease.  She is a teenager from a well respected family, and as such has not done one practical thing in her life.  Along comes Peter, who was supposed to begin his apprenticeship with her uncle.  Having no where to stay, he takes up residence in the rather strange house.  Meanwhile, Charmain applies for and gets accepted to work in the royal library while Princess Matilda's good friend Sophie Hatter Pendragon is visiting.  It becomes apparent early on that for some reason the King and his daughter are searching for something.  Also, there might be much more to Sophie and her very odd child "Twinkle" than meets the eye.

Audience
I thought this one was written a little younger than the others.  I'd still go with 10 or 11 on the whole.  The story sticks to a single setting, and if you know the characters the action is not hard to follow

What I Loved About This Book
Twinkle and Sophie cracked me up.  Everything they said and did got a laugh from me.  I think I love this book so much because I relate to Charmain.  I love to read and I'm cranky when I'm interrupted.  I loved the way she managed, but still seemed real in her struggles.  Basically this book was entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish.

Cautions
This book is kind of slow.  I would recommend just enjoying the ride, not trying to figure it out.  I wanted to know what happened at the end-something the author leaves to the imagination.

Castle in the Air

by Dianna Wynne Jones


This is the second book in the Howl's Moving Castle "series." I put the word in quotes because you don't need any one book to understand the others.  I thought they were both fun reads.  They both focus on a mythical place similar to Arabia where magic is commonplace.  A young man named Abdullah gets a flying carpet and while using it finds a beautiful princess.  He falls instantly in love with her, but there are complications.  She is engaged to someone else.  On top of that Abdullah does not really know how to operate the carpet, it seems to move only when he is asleep or does not want to move.  When Abdullah goes back and sees his true love kidnapped by an evil djin, he rushes to save her.  The problem is he has no idea where she's been taken.  This adventure follows Abdullah as he makes some unlikely friends and has a hilarious adventure through an unfamiliar country called Ingary.  All of our friends from Howl's Moving Castle come back and spend time with us, but not until the very end.  The style of the dialogue and the story are all very rooted in the Arabian side of story and myth

Audience
The book says ages 9-12 but I would go closer to 12+.  There's nothing bad, it just seemed like a lot of setting change and jumping around that was loosely connected.  I have some 9 year olds that might enjoy it, but overall this book is complex enough that I would leave it to teens

What I Loved About This Book
Dianna Wynne Jones is incredible.  I love her work, her wit, and her world building.  This book is no exception.  The characters and there rules are well fleshed out.  I was laughing at the tongue in cheek way Abdullah narrates the story.  The characters are still outrageous and heartwarming.  The kind of outrageous that makes you think of someone you know.

Cautions
The whole style and feel of the book is very different from Howl's Moving Castle.  If you're reading to find out more about Howl and Sophie, you will be disappointed.  Even though they appear at the very end,  this is not their story.  I think I liked it a little less because I was expecting it to be a book like the first one and it's not.

The Tale of the Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale

by Angela Elwell Hunt

Three trees grow side by side, each with different dreams what they want to be when  they grow up.  The first wants to be a treasure chest and hold the riches of men.  The second wants to be a mighty sailing ship to carry mighty kings to far away places.  The final tree wants to stand ant point people heavenward all his life.

The first is cut down and made into a simple manger.  The second crafted into a meagre fishing boat.  The third tree is made into lumbar.  The years pass, until the night the manger has the privilege of holding, if not the riches of the earth, the Treasure of Heaven.  One stormy night on the Sea of Galilee our second tree witnesses the calming of a storm and understands he is bearing the King of Heaven.   The third tree has lived a miserable existence until now as a cross.  The day the Son of God is nailed into him may be the most difficult of his life, but this tree always invokes God to those who see him.

What I Love About This Book

I love the calm assurance that the desires of our hearts are answered in ways we never dreamed possible.  I love how everything points to Christ, and how He is the center of everything that happens, just as I feel He is for us in our lives.

Cautions

1) This book is very religious

2) The cross as defined as being the symbol of Christianity

Book of A Thousand Days

by Shannon Hale 

Dashti finds work her first day in the capitol city.  She is lady's maid to Lady Saren, and starts work now, on the eve of Saren being locked up in a tower for seven years to "reflect on her wrongs" in offending powerful ruler Kahn Tegus by refusing his marriage proposal.  Dashti does her best to serve Saren, but Saren is not able to handle the situation, leaving Dashti to deal with most of the problems without so much as encouragement.  Saren's current betrothed comes to visit, but she is too scared to talk to him, so Dashti speaks in her place.  One night wolves attack the tower, and Saren's fear leaves her wholly unable to cope.  Dashti improvises a solution to save the both of them, praying her strength will be enough to save the both of them.

Audience

This is a pretty faithful adaptation of the Grimm's fairytale The Maid of Maleen and deals with trauma and mental illness. I feel it is wholly inappropriate for children, but wonderful for those who can handle a dark story.  The reading level is a little less than halfway through fifth grade, but I couldn't imagine being ready for it before 7th.  Maybe that's just me.

What I Love About This Book

Dashti is so strong and kind.  Many have criticized her as too perfect, but I felt she was merely naive most of the book.  Saren's character was believable and by the end I was rooting for her.  The romantic hero was one that made me happy, again the kind I as a person could fall in love with.  For a young adult book, I liked the brutally honest treatment of their recover from different ordeals

Cautions

1) It's dark.  No, really, it's the darkest of all the Grimms fairy tales I've ever read and I have read most of the original fairy tales.

2) There is a lot of classism in the story, in fact it's a central plot.  Dashti believes that it is the will of the gods that she is in a lower class, and sees herself as less of a person because of that.

3) The beginning is hard to follow because the narrator is from a completely different culture(medieval Mongolian.)  Terms like Mucker and the way they tell time are left for the reader to infer.

Daughter of a King

by Rachel Ann Nunes

I gave this book to all my nieces one year.  It is a poweful allegory of a couple who have a little girl.  They teach her that she is the daughter of the King, and one day it will be time to return home to him.  We follow this little girl through her life as she learns how to be a princess to the king, in being honest, kind, and hardworking.  She learns that not everyone does know of the king.  She marries a man that wants to return home to the palace and they are very happy together as they raise their son.  When the time comes, they do begin the trek to the palace of the king and find it difficult.  Just when they are sure they can go no further, they find themselves at the gates.  Our princess finds herself hesitant to go inside because she is ragged and does not feel like a princess.  The king steps forward and embraces her, welcoming his daughter home.

Audience
4 on up.  I love it and I reread it when life gets a little harder

What I Love About This Book
The illustrations are wonderful, and the storytelling is sensitive and beautiful.  I love this child-friendly outline to the purpose of life.

Cautions
This book is unashamedly religious.  If you don't want that, look elsewhere

Howl's Moving Castle

by Dianna Wynne Jones
When I started this book I intended to like it.  I did not intend to fall completely in love with it, but I did anyway.  In a land where fairy tales are seen as true, it cannot be denied that the oldest is doomed to fail.  Sophie has resigned herself to the fact and plans to work her life away in her fathers hat shop after his death.  Then one day the horrible Witch of the Waste comes and puts a curse on her, instantly turning her into a 90 year old woman.  Sophie knows she can't stay where she is, so she makes her way elsewhere.  She ends up at Howl's moving castle (hence the title) and presents herself as a cleaning lady.  Upon entering the castle she meets the fire demon, Calcifer, who agrees to break the spell on her in return for her breaking the spell that binds him to Howl.  Sophie meets the "Heartless Howl" and is unimpressed by the childish man.  As time goes on she begins to see how many wonderful things he does without a word.  As she starts to see him better, she wonders what he might see in her

Audience

I think it's appropriate for almost anyone.  Besides the stray swear word or two there is nothing objectionable.  I could see a high 5th grader going for this one.  I don't see any gender specificity

What I Love About This Book

One thing Howl say has had me thinking ever since I first read it.  After you know the ending send me a message and I'll tell you what it is.  I also love the characters.  Every one is understandable and every single one is quirky in the extreme.  But even with their quirkiness I felt I could relate to each of them in turn.  The love story captured my heart and made me want to experience the book all over again

Cautions

This is a trilogy series, but I haven't read the other two.  I'm not going to recommend this as a series until I do

Chronicles of Narnia

by C.S. Lewis
This series is my favorite of all time.  It starts with the children being brought into the magical world of Narnia via wardrobe.  It is beautiful and enchanted.  The children soon find out it is not enchanted for the better.  An evil White Witch makes it always winter, but never Christmas.  Now these children are being put forward as the ones to end the Witches reign, under the direction of the King, Aslan.  Aslan is the Lion, the Son of the Emperor across the sea.  He is not tame, but He is good.  This is the hook for the 1st book (as far as I'm concerned) but the whole series is beautiful.  My favorite is the book Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  I want to say that I thought the movie was fairly accurate, but entirely missed the spirit of the book.

Audience

I'd say 3rd grade on up.  It will appeal more to girls than boys but I think both will like it.  It is written so that I could love it as a child and yet I still understand it a little more every time I read it.

What I Love About These Books

Whenever I can't sleep I pull up one of these books.  I've read them so many times that when I listen to abridged versions, I can tell what they left out.  And yet, I still find new wisdom in them every time I read.  I love the allegory of Aslan being Christ and I have come to know my Savior better through spending time with Aslan.  The writing is so poetic, but it also strikes close because I can feel the truth of what he's saying.  C.S. Lewis also has a tongue in cheek narration style that keeps me chuckling.  The first line of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader may be one of the most brilliant in history-"There was a boy named Eustace Clarance Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."

Cautions

The 7th book seemed strange and creepy to me.  There are a lot of very good things in it, but I needed to see the allegory to appreciate it.  The book deals with the signs of the last days and the second coming.  Maybe it was just me though.

Series (2 orders)
Publication order (my preference)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magicians Nephew
The Last Battle

Chronological Order
The Magicians Nephew
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

Inkspell and Inkdeath

Yes, I'm reviewing each title in the series separately.  These are the two sequels to Inkheart, but they have a different feeling for me.  Inkheart is about storybook characters coming into our world, this book is about the Inkheart characters going into the Inkworld.  Dustfinger got all he ever wanted, to go back.  But ten years in the other world changed him, and he finds that leaving everyone behind is not as liberating as he thought.  In the meantime Farid solicits Meggie's help to get to Dustfinger.  Meggie sees this as her ultimate dream come true and tries not to think about how her father will react when he sees that Meggie has left him for the world that stole his wife for ten years.  Mo and Theresa find a way into the Inkworld hoping beyond hope their family will be together again. 

Audience
This is to middle grade readers (6-8) and the content is inappropriate below that.  The suffering of many of the characters, including poverty and prejudice, is described in detail, and some of the decisions are morally questionable.  It makes for a rich story but also makes it less child-friendly.

What I Love About These Books

1) I always love Dustfinger for his contradictions.  If you've read the first book you know that he really is the coward he describes himself to be...except when he isn't. 

2) The emotional lines were an intense read.  Some rang true, others felt melodramatic, but I enjoyed all of them.  I felt just about every character was improved upon. 

3) If you are going to like this book, you have to fall in love with the Inkworld and it's people, because this is their story. 

4) Having read the romance plot through to the end, I must say it rang true to me.  I want my kids, especially my girls, to understand the conclusions Meggie draws at the end of the series.

Cautions
1) These books are dark.  My experience is that we bring what darkness we have into any book, but some invite more than others.  The Inkworld has some truly evil characters and they are explored
2) There is profanity.  I didn't feel it was excessive, but depending on the child, you may want to hold off.  Farid calls some characters an SOB, so it's not exactly mild.
3) The book is about 640 pages long with a lot of description.  The descriptions are beautiful, but I skimmed some of them.
4) Inkspell leaves on a killer cliffhanger, so have Inkdeath ready.

Enna Burning

Technically this is part of the same series as Goose Girl, but it's so different I didn't want to review them together,  After Isi becomes queen her friendship with Enna stays strong.  Enna is happy for her, but can't help being a little jealous of Isi's ability to speak to the wind-until she learns the language of fire.  She thinks it will be like Isi with the wind, but it's not.  Fire needs to burn.  Now that she has fire inside her, she needs to let it out.  Fortunately the kingdom is going to war and her gift is useful.  She has it under control.  No matter how much it hurts, she will stay in control...but how?

AudienceNo way I'd go below 16 on this one, it just deals with too many dark issues.  It is a beautiful story of friendship and love, but there are some topics that I just don't feel fit into children's literature.  This is Young Adult at it's finest.  Girls book for sure.

What I Love About This Book

1) The war stories struck a chord with me.  There are motivations for all the characters, and you can see how the danger brings out the best in some and the worst in others

2) Ani and Gerrick are so cute together.  I love it when a couple gets together and then they live happily ever after

3) I like the darker tone.  Enna deals with some pretty heavy stuff and the book faces it honestly.  Her abilities with fire read like an addiction to me

Caution

1) This book deals with Stockholm Syndrome and other psychological issues

2) The choices Enna makes are often consistent with an addict-only fair since she is one.

Goose Girl

Some have the gift of people speaking, they can make anyone believe them.  Some have the gift of animal speaking and can understand the sparrows, the horses, and the language of all creatures.  Once, long ago, there is a legend that some had the gift of nature speaking-to understand the fire, or the wind, or even the water.  Princess Anidori Kaladra Taliana Isili does not have the gift of people speaking.  She always says the wrong thing at the wrong time.  She is only at home with the animals she loves, she can understand them.  In spite of this she is the crown princess, until tragedy strikes and she learns her mother has made a marriage alliance to send her off to a distant country to marry an unknown prince.  On the way to her groom, Ani's maid usurps her power and her name.  Ani enters a new country alone and as a starving peasant.  She does not have the gift of people speaking, can she possibly reclaim her name and title from someone so beautiful and convincing?  Ani finds her powers of language are more than she thought.  She also finds true friendship does not depend on convincing someone of your worth, it depends on opening up and allowing others to see you.

Audience

I would not go below 12 or 13 on this one.  The language is simple, but it is based on a Grimm Fairytale.  This is decidedly geared toward girls

What I Love About This Book

1) I love that this is a fairy tale with a fun romance plot, but it is not a guy-saves-girl book, nor is it a girl-saves-guy book.  The two of them work together and arrive at the truth and the needed proof.

2)The themes of what makes a family and a mother are explored.  Ani learns that a mother is not a soft place to fall, a mother is the one that will give her own blood in the service of her children
3) I love the friendships and relationships Ani develops, learning how all people are different, but have the same need for acceptance
4) I am a firm believer in the power of words and the need for story, so the ideas of language in this book ring true to me.  Ani is a story teller, and this book talks about why we need stories-and it echos my feelings on the matter

Cautions
1) This book is graphic.  It talks about heads being chopped off, and other violent themes.  Again, this is within the limits of a Grimm fairytale.
2) One female character does use her attractiveness to manipulate the men around her, and the two of them being sexually active is hinted at.  I think that would go over a lot of heads, but adults will catch it.

A Tale of Two Castles

by Gail Carson Levine
Elodie (said like Melody but without the M) is moving across the sea to begin her apprenticeship.  She has no money so the plan is to apprentice for 10 years in the city of Two Castles.  It's kinda strange as a capitol city.  One castle belongs to the king, the other to an ogre. Every wise person tells her to avoid the ogre at all costs, but these situations seem to find her.  Two Castles also has it's very own dragon.  Dragons are also to be avoided because they are hot tempered and moody.  But when the dragon is the only one offering her the help she so desperately needs?  Is it possible that "everybody" can be wrong about something so important?

Audience

The story is just as simple as Ella Enchanted, so I'd say it's safe for any second grader up to real chapter books.  This is very much girl oriented with a medieval fairy tale setting.

What I Love About This Book
1)At first I was trying to figure out if each character was the "good guy" or the "bad guy."  This is a mystery and it does have an antagonist, but each and every character has good qualities and bad.  Who can you trust?  Decide for yourself, because all the characters are pursuing their own ends.

2) I spent a lot of time trying to find the romance plot, but there is none.  I love this because I think there needs to be more books on friendship-we all need it and that is a relationship with just as much value in our lives as romance.

3) One of the themes in this book is changing your dreams.  What if you get what you want, and find you don't like it?  What if you get what you don't want and find that you love it?  I think young people need to hear that it's okay not to have all your own answers.

Cautions
1) There is no romance plot.  I though this was Beauty and the Beast retold, but it's not
2) The idea of gender is explored a little-and what behaviors are indicative of what gender