Cat Girl In The Basement

Who's ready for a rambling?  Yay, me too!  Today I will ramble about a book that has been on my radar and on my bookshelf for a while.  It has been part of my backpack of bookness  for and I was in the mood for a random book, so I put my hand into the backpack, pulled out this book and read it in two days.  The book is Serafina and the Black Cloak, a young adult novel by Robert Beatty.  Was it as awesome as the best seller list said it was?  I'll let you know, but first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

 Serafina is a pre-teen girl who has spent her whole life hidden with her father in the basement of the famous Biltmore Estate in the 1890's.  Serafina spends most of her time napping during the day and using her unusual talents to catch rats in the extensive house.  She is no sure why her father hides hers away so carefully, but figures it has something to do with her strange coloring and the way her bones seemed to be just a bit malformed.  She has spent her whole life skulking around and observing the life that she can never have.  Her father has also warned her away from the forests that surround the estate, telling her that they are very dangerous.  One night while catching rats, Serafina runs into a horrible, rotting apparition that is clothed in a mysterious black cloak.  The worst part however is that he has kidnapped a young girl and when Serafina tries to help, the cloak envelopes the girl and she disappears with a scream.  The man in the black cloaks see's Serafina and chases her, but she manages to hid using her ability to fit into tiny spaces.  She goes up and spies on the house the next morning and learns one of the guests little girls is missing.  She tries to explain to her father, but he tells her she has read to many books and must have imagined it.  Sera goes exploring on her own and meets up with Braeden, the orphaned nephew of the Vanderbilts, the  owners/builders of the Biltmore Estate.  The two of them become friends and start to investigate the missing children, as they have come to find out that there were other's missing.  Sera tries again to talk to her father and finally learns the truth of her birth.  Years ago he had been out in the woods and came across some sort of wild animal.  He heard what sounded like cries and when he followed the sound, he came upon a small creature that resembled a human girl.  He took her home and eventually got a job at the Biltmore Estate, first as a construction worker, then as a maintenance man, all the while living and hiding himself and his adopted daughter in the house.  Much investigation and adventures follow with Sera and Braeden becoming tight friends.  Sera starts to suspect a Mr. Thorn, a guest of the Biltmore Estate who seems to mysteriously obtain a new talant every time a child disappears. Sera is chased into the woods and she after running through a mysterious, body less cemetery in an abandoned village she ends up in a green area with a mysterious angel holding a sharp sword.  There is also a mountain lion den, which holds a pair of lion cubs that Sera bonds with.  She is almost killed when the cubs lion mamma comes back and finds her.  More stuff and Sera lures Mr. Thorn away into the glade and gets the lioness to shred him.  She takes the cloak and learns it's evil history and how it was responsible for the town being abandon.  It tempts her to take it for her self, but she uses the sword to destroy it.  Once the cloak is destroyed, all the spirits that were taken are released, including the missing children.  Turns out the cloak would absorb the spirits and bestow the life and talent upon the wearer of the cloak.  One of the released people is Serafina's mother...actually it's the human half of a being known as a catamount, which is essentially a human/ mountain lion shape shifter.  This is where Sera get's her interesting oddness from.  The kid's are taken back to their grateful parents with a story of being lost in the woods, as nobody would really believe that they were trapped in a cloak.  The Vanderbilts have finally learned of Sera's existence and allow her and her father to continue to live in the basement.  Sera and Braeden remain fast friends and the next adventure starts in the next book.

World Building - The book is set in a historical location, but with a fantasy twist.  I don't know, the world was really well built...but I had a very hard time reconciling the fake fantasy world with it's non existent elements aka the abandon village and such, with what is a well known and well documented local historical landmark, but more on that later.  That being said, the world was well wrought and easy to navigate, especially the nooks and crannies of the big house and some of the cemetery aspects added to the overall story.

Story - This felt like a middle grade story, if that makes sense.  This is not a bad thing, sometimes I feel that authors try and get to clever, or to adult when it comes to this age group and this story really feels like it is written for the 9-12 club and in that sense it makes me very happy.  I however am not a 9-12 year old and felt that the book over all read a little young.  Again not a bad thing for the target group.  For the most part the story was complete and engaging.  The biggest complaint I had about the story (besides the historical aspect, which will get it's own area) was that I felt like it was trying to do a little to much.  We had so many elements to the story, and not all of them were tied together as well as I thought they could be.  So I guess overall the story was ok, but needed some work.

Character - This book had an interesting mix of historical figures and fictional characters which for me personally worked with mixed results.  As far as individuals go, I found Serafina to be a pretty good character, especially for the target age group.  She is feisty, self-sufficient, and not overly confident.  She has a lot of angst over her unknown past and reacts as most  9-12 year olds would to the event's that transpire.  Everybody else is fairly stock or background so yeah.

Editing - The flow of the book was pretty well done, I was able to follow everything with out too much trouble so that was good.  Again, as I mentioned, I felt like there were just too many elements.  We had the mysterious girl with all the weird physical stuff, we have the historic estate, we have a mystery involving missing children and a soul eating cloak, we have a mysterious origin story, we have an abandon village, we have a sword wielding stone angel, we have shape shifting cats...we have SO MUCH GOING ON!  I feel like I would have preferred if the author just focused on a couple of these elements at a time, especially since it is going to be a series.  Also a few things got tossed in with no explanation which always drives me nuts.

History/Fantasy - Ok, so here is where personal opinion comes in...so just remember that...this is just my bloggy opinion.  I find that the mixing of history and fantasy is hit or miss.  When it is done well, it can be awesome.  However more often then not, it just bugs the heck out of me.  This book is one of those that bugs me and here is why.  We know the entire history of the Biltmore Estate.  We know how and when it was built and by who and their whole personal history.  Nowhere ever is their an orphaned nephew, nowhere ever is their an abandoned village....in fact the forest around the estate was planted by the builders.  There are no local legends of catamounts so pretty much the author just appropriated the setting and a couple of real life people then totally went his own merry way with the rest.  I would have much preferred if the author, inspired by the Biltmore Estates, had come up with his own setting and characters...even if they were a homage to the originals.  I found it very distracting the liberties the author took with the history of this place and it's builders.

Family - One thing I did very much enjoy about this book was the portrayal of family.  We get to see every single type of family imaginable.  We see mom, dad and kid, we see family adopting on of their own, we see single parents, we see a gruff guy becoming an amazing dad by happenstance.  A shape shifting mountain lion being a mother from afar.  To me it just reaffirms the fact that anybody can be family if they are willing to put the effort in.  I always love it when a book shows us that a family can be more then just the traditional nuclear family and that as long as you try to love each other, all family is good family.

Bucket List - For all of my whining about the mix of history and fantasy, the Biltmore Estate has now gone on my Literary Bucket List.  I only live about 6-8 hours away from this place and it looks amazing.  I would love to do my best to fanagle my way into seeing some of the awesome places described in the book.  This one is very doable so keep an eye out for a post about it.

Overall Impression - I did not find this book to be my personal cup of tea...that being said, I totally get the appeal of this book, especially in the middle grade crowd that it is targeted for.  I will probably grab the second book at some point, but am not chomping at the bit for it.  I recommend it to anybody who wants to get their kid to read more and needs a good page turner.  I give it 6 out of 10 frayed rope belts.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Stuffed Reading

It's birthday season for my nephews...seriously all 6 of them were born within months of each other.  They range in age from 8 months to 9 years and one thing they all have in common is a love of what they call stuffy's.  These are what they call there stuffed animals.  They also love reading...'cause what kid with me for an aunt wouldn't.  Here are a couple literary stuffy's for you tiny tot.

A Bear Called Paddinton

I loved this book so much growing up, it's such a classic.

Curious George

This monkey has been a favorite of every nephew at some point in time.

The Story of Babar

This book series is STILL one of my go to's...I just love it

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Instant nostalgia with this set

Clifford the Big Red Dog

Who didn't love this canine growing up?

Just a couple of ideas for the little guys and gals in your life.  Of course these are just a few...the possibilities are ENDLESS!  Happy Reading Everybody!

The Memories Of Teeth

I love it when I discover a book that I bought, put on the shelf and forgot to read, it's kind of like discovering a secret treasure stash.  The other day as I was going through my shelves to pack a book caught my eye and I realized I had forgot to read it so YAY!  The book is Toothiana Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies by William Joyce and is the third book in The Guardians series.  It was the perfect length and tone for my mindset at that moment so here we go.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

We last left our friends Katherine (the orphan girl with a fierce yet gentle heart), the wizard Ombric who has protected and enriched the hidden village of Santoff Claussen, North the valiant protector of Katherine and her friends, Nightlight the mysterious human like manifestation of pure light, and Bunnymund the rabbit like alien who is both a fighter and a lover of all things eggs, rejoicing at their defeat of their enemy Pitch.  Pitch and his nightmares have not been seen in some time and the group dares to hope he has been defeated for good.  The whole group, along with the villiage decide to go visit the Lamadary in the Himalayas.  Once there they learn the long lost story of Toothiana and how she became the queen of her strange little tooth fairy army.  She is the daughter of a Sister of Flight ( a race of winged women who lived in an ancient and fantastic city guarded by flying elephants) and the servant of a vain and cruel maharaja.  The maharaja wanted to hunt the flying elephants but was defeated by the Sisters of Flight.  His life was spared only by the intervention of his servant and the maharaja was turned into a sort of man monkey.  Fast forward several years later and Toothiana is born.  Once the small minded humans discover her wings, she and her family are hunted. Turns out it is actually a being called the Monkey King (the maharaja in monkey form) who is perusing the little family  and her parents give their lives to protect her.  Before dying they give Toothiana a ruby box to protect.  We also learn that Toothiana collects childrens teeth because they contain the memories that the children eventually forget.  Katherine, after her previous encounter with Pitch decides to use her last baby tooth (which she loses while at the Lamadary) to try and get some sort of memory of her parents of whom she remembers nothing.  Toothiana and her little mini me's (these are what constitute her army) arrive, but before Katherine can bargain with her they are all accosted by the Monkey King and his soldiers.  They carry off Katherine to the lost city of the Sisters of Flight and there she finds Pitch, not quite as defeated as she would wish.  The Guardians after much discussion form a plan and march on Pitch.  Unfortunately our faithful Guardians instead of just going to rescue Katherine, start to feel hate and anger and the need to not just incapacitate but kill Pitch and his army.  Katherine however protects Pitch from the killing blow saving the goodness that is what makes the Guardians themselves.  A wild and mysterious woman appears and spirits Pitch and Katherine away.  The book ends with the Guardians realizing that they erred when they let hate take over and vow to do better.  With that thought they all go to find Katherine.

World Building - This book, like the rest of the series does a great job in creating a fantastical yet understandable world.  This book in particular draws from Indian like settings and has a bit of Middle Eastern flair that fits into the global mythic world that the series is creating.  This installment continues the flow that was started in the first two books and it is very very easy to immerse oneself in this world created to escape to.

Story - I liked that this was both a continuation of the story in the series and added a new bit with the story of Toothiana.  I felt that this particular origin story of the tooth fairy was fresh and original and just all around very cool.  Being mostly a middle grade book I felt the story was simple enough for a younger person to follow, but not dumbed down in any way.

Character - The characters continue to be developed and diverse.  They come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, races (some mythological in origin) beliefs, just all kind of goodness.  I also like that most of the main characters have personal conflicts, strengths, weaknesses and so forth.  Especially in books for younger people I think it is important that characters are not perfect, or stereotypes, but that everybody has good and bad sides and needs to learn to work with them.

Editing - I feel that the book is well edited with the story flowing quit well.  The continuity through out the series has been excellent and the book was very readable and age appropriate.

Illustrations - One of my favorite things about this series and this book is no exception is the amazing illustrations peppered through out the book.  They are line drawings with the cover being beautifully rendered in color.  Even if the story sucked I would still pick up these books just on the sheer beauty of them.   In addition to being gorgeous, the illustrations actually help move the story along so they are practical as well.

The Village - So in the story the village that most of our hero's are from decided that they ALL wanted to go visit the Lamadary...so they do.  I just love the combination of the sheer impracticality of transporting a whole village...even if it is by magical means, and the idea that the book acknowledges that everybody has the right to go adventuring, not just the main characters.  I also love how it was a given that if the whole village wanted to go, then they would go, no arguments.

Origin Story - Toothiana's origin story was pretty awesome.  I love how the series in general, and this book in specific take something as familiar as our childhood legends and twist them around so they mean so much more.  Along with Toothiana, we also get more of North's future story and more hints into Bunnymund.  It is cool to see these overly familiar characters get a diverse and rich origin story.

Overall Impression - This was another beautiful and wonderful installment to this series and I give it 7 out of 10 molars and now need to go see if I can find the next one.  I recommend it to anybody who loves retellings, myths or needs a book to read with their wee ones.

Happy Reading Everybody!

Second Star To The Right

Hola my favorite readers!  So my firehouse book club strikes again.  This time my a rather unusual version of my favorite Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie was slipped into my locker.  What made this version remarkable...and hence the loaning of it to me, is the very cool and interactive illustrations by MinaLima a British duo who met on the set of Harry Potter and now share their unique vision and love of books with the rest of us.  Ok, who's ready to ramble?  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

I'm sure that most of you know the story of Peter Pan, but if not here we go.  Mr. and Mrs. Darling are the slightly beleaguered parents of Wendy, John and Michael.  The children are looked after by a huge dog referred to as Nana.  One night, after poor Nana is banished from the house in disgrace over an incident with some nasy medicine the children are visited by the infamous Peter Pan.  Peter Pan along with his companion the sassy fairy Tinkerbell have come to the Darling children's window to look for his shadow.  He finds it and tries to put it back on with soap, getting himself a light teasing from Wendy when she wakes up.  She assists him in sewing the shadow back on and after some exchanges of kisses and thimbles agree's to go with him to Neverland and tell the Lost Boys stories.  John and Michael come along and after a bit of pixie dust they are on their way.  The jealous Tink almost gets Wendy killed when she convinces Tootles, the sweetest of the Lost Boys that Peter wanted them to shoot her.  Lucky for all involved it hit a button and bounced off, so instead of a funeral the boys build her a little house.  Many adventures are had involving the Indians, mermaids, Lost Boys, fairies, flying, hunting and all kinds of wondrous things that appeal to the young...and those of us who never really grow up.  Eventually Wendy tires of playing house with Peter and decides to take her brothers home.  Peter Pan is upset, but passes it off and sends them on their way along with the rest of the Lost Boys who want to come home and be adopted by the Darling family.  What the crew doesn't realize is that the notorious Captain Jas. Hook is waiting with his pirates above ground to capture them all. See there has been a great dislike between Captain Hook and Peter Pan ever since Peter cut off Hook's had and fed it to a crocodile...along with a clock that warns Hook when he is near.   Wendy and the boys are captured and the Captain slips poison onto Peter's medicine.  Peter wakes up and changes his mind about Wendy leaving and goes to drink his medicine.  Tink in an effort to save Peter, drinks the poison instead and almost dies.  Lucky for us we can bring back a fairy by clapping our hands.  Peter and Tink set out to rescue the rest of the lot.  There is much bravery, fighting, crocodiles, hooks, baiting, switching and all around mayhem and finally Peter prevails.  The children minus Peter all head home to the distraught and anxious arms of their parents.  After the whole story comes out, the parents agree to adopt the rest of the Lost Boys.  Peter continues to come back on occasion to take Wendy to Neverland for brief amounts of time, but his sense of time is skewed and one time he comes back and she is an adult.  Peter continues to come first for Wendy's daughter and then later her granddaughter.  This continues to this day.

World Building - This is a children's fantasy story set in old school London, and mostly in the amazing Neverland!  The world is built by the author in a way that makes you feel like you are talking to a young child.  The world is both very complete and everchanging according to the whims of the children.  Peter especially can change his little corner of dream land giving us a complete yet ever changing landscape on which the imagination plays out.  Seriously though, Neverland has it all, pirates, mermaids, fairies, natives, a group of Lost Boys, magic, mystery adventure, it is the ultimate fantasy destination.

Story - The whole story of Peter Pan always feels like an ongoing dream to me.  I like how the story for this book is pretty complete, the way it is told makes you feel like there were tons of stories before this one, and plenty to come.  The story of the Darling children is very fun, and exciting and keeps a readers interest no matter the age.  It is different in style then most modern day books, and has a definite tongue in cheek feel that I adore.  The author is able to both make one feel like he remembers being a child very well, while at the same time able to point out some of the absurdities of both children and adults.

Character - I love the characters in this book, they all play a role and are all special in their own way.  My favorites are of course Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tinker Bell.  I love the sheer wild abandon of Peter Pan.  While he very much embodies the eternal child, selfish, willful, petulant when he doesn't get his way, he is more then that.  He is a wild spirit that can't bear to be tied down, he is freedom itself for good or bad and I totally identify with his good points and his bad ones as well.
 Captain Hook has always been one of my favorite villains.  To start with the guy is a pirate...which is always a good thing in my book.  He is also apologetically mean and violent towards pretty much everybody, but the author does give him several moments of reflection in the book.  There are multiple places where we see Hook reflect on how and why he got to where he is.  We see him be strong and anti-heroic and we see him hurt and scared, a very well rounded villain.  Tinker Bell is just a sassy ball of energy and she is my role model teeheehee.  I mean the girl has attitude like nobodies business, defends what's hers, flies AND shows bits of bravery and selflessness when really needed..yep my kind of girl.  So yeah, good characters.

Editing - The style of the book is the omniscient narrator who talks directly to the reader.  It works perfectly for this book as the narrator is snarky guy who sets the tone perfectly.  The editing is well done and the book flows perfectly and simply as befitting a children's book.

Quotes - Peter Pan is one my favorite books to quote.  I could fill pages and pages with the most perfect little gems.  "Second star to the right and straight on till morning"  "To die will be an awfully big adventure" "When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.”  “Never is an awfully long time.”  “All children, except one, grow up.”  “Oh, the cleverness of me!”  “Pan, who and what art thou?" he cried huskily. "I'm youth, I'm joy," Peter answered at a venture, "I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.”  I could go on and on, but then I would pretty much just retype the whole book.  I just love the phrasing of so much of this book, it really appeals to me.

The Play - This book actually started out as a play that the author expanded into book form.  As a theatre junkie AND a huge fan of this story one could say that it is a match made in literary heaven.  I have seen the play live many times and my Mamma bought me the Mary Martin version on VHS for me to watch over and over and over again.  This is the definition of pure imagination to me and I love every fairy assisted drop of it.

Illustrations - I have several versions of this book all with different and amazing illustrations.  Since this post was inspired by the MinaLima version that is what will be used to illustrate this particular post...there will probably be other posts with other illustrations.  This book lends itself to so many styles of art and interpretations that I could probably collect a thousand different artistic versions, all with their own amazing takes on the various characters, places and situations.  This particular version not only has some very cool illustrations, but there are also many interactive elements that really add to the atmosphere of the books.

Overall Impressions - This is with out a doubt one of my absolute favorite stories.  It has everything I love about reading, fairies, mermaids, pirates, adventures, quests all of it.  I love the huge scope of imagination, I love the unlimited potential for pretty much anything to happen, I love the mix of children and adults, I love the idea that you never have to grow all the way up.  I just love it!  I give this book 10 out of 10 never birds and will read it over and over again.
Happy Reading Everybody!

Happy 100!

One of my favorite childhood authors the fabulous Beverly Cleary turns 100 today!  This author of the famed Ramona series, among other gems has lived, written and just made kids lives awesome for the last 100 years.

Seriously folks 100 years...how absolutely awesome and amazing is that.  I want to wish this classy lady many more awesome years and thank her for making my childhood an amazing experience.  Happy Birthday!

Children And Farmers...In Space

I have just enough time to throw together a quick rambling today so lets get right to it shall we?  Today's ramble is brought to you by The Children of Hamlin by Carmen Carter and is one of the early Star Trek: TNG books.  After the not so enjoyable experience of my last Star Trek book, I turned to one my favorites when I was younger, and I still very much enjoy it.  I am going to assume everybody reading this knows enough about the show that I don't need to rehash and will jump into the synopsis.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

The USS Enterprise gets a distress signal and diverts from it's current mission of delivering a group known as the Farmers to their new home planet.  They get to the distressed ship just in time to rescue a small number of people from the ship.  Turns out that the ship was carrying Andrew Deelor, a Starfleet operative and his mysterious companion Ruthe.  Deelor was on the ship to work negotiations with a reclusive species known as the Choraii.  The aliens live in a loose society of traveling ships made of a bubble like structure and are willing to destroy whole civilizations for the smallest amounts of metal which is crucial to their survival.  It was this need for metal that brought the Choraii to the Federations attention in the first place.  They massacred every adult on an outpost known as Hamlin and all the children disappeared.  Now thirty five years later they have discovered that the children were taken by the Choraii and have had children of their own and Deelor's job is to negotiate for them back.  The Choraii are very difficult to negotiate with as their language is music based and they do not use visuals. Through out the negotiations the crew has to deal with the Farmers who not only eschew technology but are very vocal about being stuck on the ship.  A child and an older man are traded from the Choraii ship. The young one does pretty good once they figure out how to deal with him, but the older one eventually ends up dying.  When approached Ruthe says it is because he grew up in a world so different that being "rescued" was too much of a shock.  With the humans rescued, the ship heads to the Farmer's new world where they discover another massacre similar to what happened at Hamlin.  They also discover that the only child on the world is missing.  They track down the Choraii ship responsible and Ruthe negotiates for the child.  The trade turns out to be Ruthe for the child.  Ruthe was a child that had been "rescued" around 11 years of age and has been secretly searching for what she considers her home ship ever since.  There is much discussion about the ethics, morals and rules when it comes to this complicated situation, but in the end everybody has to move on.

I have always enjoyed this book, ever since I started reading them at the age of 10.  I think I liked this one so much because it featured children and Dr. Crusher, two of my favorite things at the time.  I still enjoy it for it's portrayal of such an alien species, culture and environment and  how one has to think a different way when dealing with them.  There is all the things that make Star Trek...well Star Trek in this book and as a huge fan I love it! The allusion to the story Pied Piper of Hamelin with the children being taken, the music being how the aliens communicate (Ruthe uses a pipe to "talk" with them) and the children's reluctance to leave the Choraii environment is very well done without being to extremely blatant.  The writing is pretty good, it flows nicely and switches between characters very smoothly.  There is not too much character introspection, and the author did not try and read too much into very established characters.  This book gave me the perfect combination of familiarity with my beloved Enterprise and loved characters and a bit of the exotic and alien with the absolutely strange and wonderful Choraii.  This is why I love SciFi, this is why I love rereading old favorites and this is why I love Star Trek.  Over all a solid entry into a wide and varied series.  I give it 7 out of 10 grapes and recommend it to anybody who loves this show/series as much as I do.

Smarty Pants Scavenger Hunt

I've been ready for something a bit more light-hearted, and since I enjoyed the first book so much I decided to read The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart, the second book in The Mysterious Benedict Society series.  Was it as delightfully puzzling as the first book?  Lets find out, but first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Reynie Muldoon (a smart guy who can puzzle out almost anything) is finally reunited with his friend the resourceful and daring Kate Wetherall on the farm she is now living on with her long lost father Mulligan.  The two have not seen each other since their adventures at the L.I.V.E. institute.  They are soon joined by Sticky Washington (the boy with the photographic memory), his parents, and Mrs. Permal who has adopted Reynie.  The group all head to Mr. Benedict's house to meet up with the super young super perceptive Constance and for a surprise that he has in store for the children.  Upon arriving the group discovers that Mr. Benedict and his assistant Number Two were supposed to have put together a scavenger hunt across the world for the children, but instead have been kidnapped by his twin brother, the nefarious Mr. Curtain.  The kids obtain the first clue that was supposed to start them on their trip and sneak out to rescue their mentor and friend.  The clue leads them to a boat and Captain Noland and a sailor called Cannonball.  They end up in Portugal and after dodging a couple of Mr. Curtains henchmen they find the next clue.  Off to Holland they go.  After they make it to the library, they discover letters and journals written by Mr. Benedicts parents. Reading these informs the children that the Benedicts had been looking for a cure for the family narcolepsy curse.  They found a plant that when processed correctly would potentially cure the sleeping disease. Unfortunately they had to keep it a secret because if used the wrong way, could be used as a weapon to put people to sleep.  The children are attacked by guys known as the Ten Men, people who use nasty objects to inflict pain, all while being very sharply dressed.  The kids are rescued by the surprise appearance of Milligan who agrees to help the kids rescue Mr. Benedict and Number Two.  They work out where the island is and attempt to find the prisoners whereabouts.  The children and are captured and Milligan is defeated by the suave Ten Men and the children are taken to the cave where Mr. Curtain is keeping Mr. Benedict prisoner.  Much banter and exchange of wits occur with the result of Mr. Curtain going of with one of the Ten Men and Mr. Benedict securing his and the children's release.  The friends the children made through out their adventure come to their rescue and Kate proves herself better then the bad guys by showing them mercy.  They all return home to their worried family's and live happily until the next book.

This book was a classic second book in a kids series.  It was a bit predictable, a bit safe, but kept all the stuff I liked about the first one.  A couple of things that caught my attention in this book.  The kids abilities have all grown at a believable rate, now that they know they possesses certain skills, they (and the adults who are awesome) have helped nurture and hone them.  The result is the kids are able to more complicated issues quicker.  The kids themselves have grown up a bit and to that end there are some new tensions in the group that were not there before.  Reynie is struggling to find the good in the world, suspicious of most people, Kate has gotten even more impatient and impulsive, Sticky has the urge to show off, and Constance is trying to cope with her new awareness of patterns and people.  The kids fight and bicker among themselves, certain pairings get along better then others, but in the end they are all try hard to get along, and deep down value their friendships.  The adults in this book crack me up, they are portrayed exactly as I remember feeling about them as a kid.  Most of them come across as loving and a bit overprotective.  We also see the self important adults and the adults who underestimate kids.  One of the things that struck me most, being both realistic, and a bit silly is how after the kids survived their last adventure, proven themselves to be able to work through difficult situations, and be generally good kids, all most of the adults want to do is protect them.  They have a hard time understanding that after the freedom they had previously, trying to make them go back to being ordinary kids is a bit ridiculous.  The children circumvent this by pretty much doing what they want anyways...but always with the best of intentions.  Over all I miss some of the solvable puzzles from the first book, and some of the freshness was gone.  That being said if I was 11 years old, I would be reading and rereading these constantly.  I give this book 6 out of 10 fake diamonds and would recommend it to read aloud with your kids/kids in your life. Happy Reading Everybody!
 What is your favorite sort of puzzle?  How bad do you want to meet Constance when she is a crotchety old lady? Is it just me or are some of these illustrations a bit creepy?

Almost Anywhere's

Welcome to today's rambling part two of my rare double header series.  I am doing another rambling because it is the second book/story in a volume I just recently finished and everything goes together to well to put a gap in between.  Anyways today I ramble about The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones and the second story in the Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume 1.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Christopher Chant has discovered that he has an amazing ability, he can slip out of his body and go to a place he calls the Almost Anywhere's. The Almost Anywhere's appear to Christopher as a bunch of different places connected the The Place In Between a rocky valley like place.  Christopher frequently visits these places and the strange people that populate them.  On occasion Christopher is able to bring back a gift that he is given in an Anywhere.  Back at home Christopher's mother and father (an enchanter and sorceress)  are constantly at odds and at times use Christopher to get at each other.  Christopher is assigned a governess and becomes acquainted with his Uncle Ralph who finds out about Christopher's abilities.  He asks Christopher to meet a colleague of his named Tacroy to conduct some experiments in the Anywhere's.  Christopher agree's and has fun with his new friend.  While working with Tacroy, Christopher runs into a girl called The Living Asheth, or The Goddess, a girl about his own age who has powers of her own.  In exchange for a Temple Cat, the Goddess asks for books and Christopher agrees.  While leaving with the cat, soldiers catch Christopher and hurl a spear through his chest, but as Christopher wakes up in his own bed, he decides no harm no

foul.  Unfortunately for Christopher, the cat he brought back is crazy and knocks the curtain rod into Christopher's chest, but he appears to only be wounded.  Christopher is sent to boarding school where he makes friends and learns that he loves the game of cricket and finds he has no talent for magic as he cannot perform even the simplest of spells in magic class.  He continues to help Tacroy with the "experiments" which usually consist of loading mysterious packages onto a vehicle for Tacroy to take back to wherever.  All of this comes to a screeching halt when his is killed when he is smashed in the head with a cricket bat.  Christopher wakes up in the morgue and it is discovered that he has nine lives and is sent to the current Chrestomanci to be trained as his successor.  It is discovered that by removing all silver from his person, Christopher is capable of performing massive feats of magic.  All kinds of stuff happens and Christopher is feeling lonely in a castle full of fusty adults and only the crabby Chrestomanci to pay any attention to him.  He is told the the Wraith, a nasty gang, has been smuggling illicit magic ingredients from the Related Worlds.  Christopher realizes that the Related Worlds are what he calls the Anywhere's and that his uncle is the one smuggling in the dangerous items.  Tacroy is captured and turns out to be a man who works for Chrestomanci, but even while being questioned, keeps Christophers part in it a secret.  Uncle Ralph kidnaps the Chrestomanci and scatters his lives across the worlds.  Christopher becomes the interim Chrestomanci and along with the Goddess (who found a way to enter the world 12A) and the rest of the household find a way to trap Uncle Ralph.  Tacroy turns out to be a person from world 11 (only one world in that series) a mysterious and dangerous place.  They all travel to world 11 and get Tacroy freed and reclaim the Chrestomanci.  The Chrestomanci is grateful and realizes that Christopher needs to be around kids his own age and forms a bit of a magic school at the castle for him, and that is how Christopher Chant becomes the next Chrestomanci with only two lives left.

Again, a bit of a long synopsis, but again the author is stuffing it full.  In this story we get to learn a lot more about the Related Worlds, how they work, and what they mean to each other.  I think what I liked best about this book was seeing the Related Worlds from so many point of views.  We have Christopher who views it as a child would, with wonders and potential friends around every corner.  He is not even 100% sure if it is real or not and treats it as a wonderful dream.  Uncle Ralph and his cronies see the worlds as a place to get rich.  They harvest and pillage, and even murder for no other reason then to further their own means.  Chrestomanci and his crew see the worlds as counter parts to their own, places that need to be protected and mostly left to their own devices.  Christopher's inability to do magic when in contact with silver was a nice touch, reminding us that for all their power, these enchanters are still human.  As in the last book we have lack of communication being a huge factor in what goes down in this story, showing how little adults tend to trust children...even if it is the children who are the primary concern.  The whole 11th world, getting Tacroy back thing could have probably been left out...unless it plays into other books...which it might...but for this book it seemed different from the rest of the story, like it was part of another idea.  I liked this story a lot, and it has cemented my love of this author and I already have Volume 2 on my shelf.  I give it 7 out of 10 silly ladies!
What Related World would you like to visit?  Why don't adult's think kids can handle at least the basic truth?  Where does one apply to become a living Goddess?

Londonawoo

I was in the mood for a quick read and as such picked up the second book in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, The Hidden Gallery by Maryrose Wood.  What did I think?  I'll tell you, but first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Ms. Penelope Lumley has just received a letter from her beloved former headmistress Miss Mortimer inviting her to London.  Ms. Lumley approaches the flighty and shallow Lady Constance Ashton for permission, when the Lady decides the whole household should spend a season in London.  When Ms. Lumley tells Miss Mortimer she is able to come, Miss Mortimer sends her a very unusual guidebook with odd illustrations and not so helpful hints.  The three children (who only occasionally howl at the moon) and their governess arrive in London and get promptly lost.  They soon meed up with a delightful young man by the name of Simon who helps them find their way and a mysterious Gypsy who tells them that the Hunt is On.  Ms. Lumley settles her charges into their nursery while the chattering Lady Ashton anticipates all the social events she will be invited too.  Alas the next day the only mail is for Ms. Lumley, which does not make the Lady happy at all.  Ms. Lumley goes to see Ms. Mortimer and she is warned that somebody may be out to do harm to the three children and that she needs to keep her own hair dyed...presumably to keep her mysterious resemblance to the children at a minimum.  She is also advised by her former headmistress to not delve into the mysteries of her own parents too closely.  Ms. Lumley heads home to find the children missing and has a bit of a

panic after her unsettling talk with Miss Mortimer.  Ms. Lumley finds her charges safe and sound with Simon and Judge Quinzy, one of the nasty men at the disastrous holiday party from the last book.  The children had been to the zoo, and to the delight of Ms. Lumley had mostly behaved themselves. Lord and Lady Ashton are to go to the opening of a new play about pirates (with the Lady Ashton getting together the most unusual dress), but Lord Ashton has to bow out at the last moment due to an illness that seems to make him scratch and howl.  The children and their governess go to the play which ends with the children on stage chasing a parrot.  They in turn are then chased by the pirate actors for some unknown reason.  They end up in the hidden gallary that Ms. Lumley had read about in her guidebook and find a most unusual picture of Agatha Swanburne, the founder of the school Ms. Lumley was left at by her parents.  They all make it back home eventually and Lady Ashton thoroughly embarrassed about the scathing reviews her dress received decides they should all head home.  Ms. Lumley finally puts two and two together and discovers that the full moon and Lord Ashtons mysterious illness coincide and that must account for the howling she heard in the last book.  Miss Mortimer sends her a letter letting her know that the guidebook she sent Miss Lumley was not a guidbook at all, but a secret post card collection of sorts from her parents.  All of this sums up to this, there is an unknown curse on the three "wolf-children" going back before they were born, Lord Ashton has a mysterious illness connected to the full moon and howling, Ms. Lumley does have parents and hair that matches the three children which she must keep hidden, and there is a bunch of stuff that is somehow connected that we will hopefully learn soon.

Ok so that was longer then expected, especially for such a short book, but there you have it.  My thoughts on this book are varied.  I again LOVED the children and their mix of wildness and extreme intelligence.  I enjoy the love they have for their governess and how willing they are to do whatever it is she asks.  Ms. Lumley remains a resourceful, optimistic young woman who is able to keep her head and adapt to most situations.  I appreciated the authors use of words, and her way of defining them in a most entertaining matter before applying them to the case at hand.  I imagine if I were a younger reader I would be glad of those definitions.  I am not enjoying the long dragged out mystery of the children and Ms. Lumely.  I think I would not mind it as much if their was a decent plot for each book, but it seems the "plot" is just more of the mystery.  I am hoping that at the end of the series I can look at it as a whole and find a good story.  In the meantime I will continue to enjoy the characters, which to me is the strength of the whole series, and hope to get some answers soon.  I give this book 6 out of 10 eye patches and will eventually get to the next book.

What do you think of drawn out mysteries?  How amusing do you find precocious children? What is your family curse?

364 Presents

I found it!!!!!!  I have been searching for this particular book for YEARS!!!!!  I remember reading it one year when I was about 10 years old, but never saw it again.  I couldn't remember the name of it, and the only description I could think of was so vague that about a zillion Christmas books came up when I searched for it.   Eventually success was mine and this year I am the proud owner of a library copy of The Thirteen Days of Christmas by Jenny Overton.  Did it live up to my childhood nostalgia?  Let's find out, but first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Most of us have heard the Christmas Song The Twelve Days of Christmas, but to refresh your memory and for reference, here it is.

On the Twelfth day of Christmas

my true love sent to me:

12 Drummers Drumming

11 Pipers Piping

10 Lords a Leaping

9 Ladies Dancing

8 Maids a Milking

7 Swans a Swimming

6 Geese a Laying

5 Golden Rings

4 Calling Birds

3 French Hens

2 Turtle Doves

and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

In this book we get a potential back story for this song.  Annaple (who was christened Anne, but changes her name with frequency depending on her mood.) is a romantic town girl who in the course of taking care of her father, sister and two brothers, tends to become highly distracted and moody.  She dreams of being a goose girl, or waking up to a piped serenade, and all other manner of silly things.  To this end she vows to only marry if her future fiancee can come up to her romantic standards.  Enter Francis, a rich tradesman who wants to marry Annaple, and is well liked by her and the family, the only problem being he is not "romantic enough for her.  The siblings help Francis out by giving him idea's that Annaple has mentioned as romantic, e.g. love birds, swans, pipers and such.  Francis takes this advice to heart and starts off with a bang by presenting the romantic Annaple with a partridge in a pear tree.  Annaple loves the gift and all seems well.  Francis however, being the business man that he is, is not ever content with buying just one of anything and turns out to have bought a dozen partridge's and their pear trees.  Thus starts a daily parade that is added to every morning.  Annaple becomes very embarrassed and inconvenienced (honestly, where does one keep over a dozen French Hens who refuse to lay eggs), even though Francis thoughtfully supplies coops, food and other necessities.  This continues all the way through the twelve days of Christmas, until Annaple finally relents and marries the now suitably romantic Francis.  She is happy, Francis is happy, their family is happy and they all live noisily ever after.

This is a quick read and I still love it.  It has a story and characters, but more then that it also has history and customs that have long since faded away.  I enjoyed learning about celebrating an English Christmas back in the pre-colonial days, and the addition of many ancient carols made it even better.  There was a true sense of joy and celebration in this book that I miss in a lot of the more modern books that insist on adding some element of angst or bittersweetnes to their story.  For such a short book the characters were very well done, all unique and all with their own sense of self.  There really is not a whole lot to say about this book.  It is a very straight forward story, with songs, humor, and history.  The feel of the holiday season comes through very strongly and it will sit on my shelf to be read with yearly frequency.  I recommend it for anybody who loves the holidays, likes to see how other people celebrate Christmas or just enjoy a bit of humor.  You can read this book at any age, and it would be a fun one to read out loud to the younger ones.  I give this book an 8 out of 10 maids a milking.  Just for fun, here is what Annaple and her family ended up with by the end of the 12 days of Christmas.

12 -Partridge in a Pear Tree's

22- Turtle Doves

30 - French Hens

36 - Calling Birds

40 - Gold Rings

42 - Geese a Laying

42 - Swans a Swimming

40 - Maids a Milking

36 - Ladies Dancing

30 - Lords a Leaping

22 - Drummers Drumming

12 - Pipers Piping

For a total of 346 Gifts...

What is your favorite carol/song orgin story?  What is your favorite Christmas nostalgia story?  How excited am I to finally find this book?!?  

Story Room

I love the fact that all of my nephews love to read or be read too!  I think reading is one of the absolute best gifts we can give our children...I know it has made my life amazing.  In that vein here are some libraries that are using their resources to make reading spaces that inspire and revel in the magic of reading.

Brentwood TN

I need somebody to come to my house right now and build this for me...I'm waiting :-)

Om Tio Tretton

I could probably live in this Swedish Childrens library forever and ever...especially with my new fluffy birthday blankie

Central Library Kansas City MO

Is it bad when you can't even get to the bookshelves because your too busy reading the walls?

Park Falls WI

I want to grab a cup of coffee, a bunch of pillows and a great MG book and curl up in this tree of awesomeness!

Camarillo CA

How could you not feel a sense of magic and adventure waiting for you behind those doors?

These are just a few of the magical places the kids (and maybe their awesome aunts?) can go and get lost in the wonder of books.  I hope we continue to make the effort to show kids what an amazing thing a book can be...also if you need me I'll be in one of these libraries rediscovering my favorite childhood books.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Walk Like An Egyptian

After my unending praise of Middle Grade books yesterday, I thought I would do a rambling on the book that set off my current adoration of the genre.  The book is The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder who besides having one of the coolest names ever, wrote a book that could have come straight from my childhood.  First as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

April has just moved from Hollywood, living with her glamorous...if featherheaded mother to living with her more run of the mill grandmother.  She now lives in an apartment building and soon meets another girl by the name of Melanie.  At first Melanie thinks April, with her false eyelashes and odd updo is a bit strange, but soon the girls, along with Melanie's little brother Marshall find a shared love of Egypt.  Chance is in their favor and they discover a bit of fenced off yard that they turn into a type of temple/shrine/play place for their game.  The three come up with elaborate story lines, rituals, ceremonies, costumes, getting so into the game that on occasion it seems real.  Soon a new girl Elizabeth moves into the neighborhood and joins the game, adding her own pieces of imagination.  Unfortunately the fun is almost ruined when the body of a local child is found.  To make matters worse, this is the second murdered child in the area in two years.   Along with being stuck inside where the adults can keep an eye on them, April is also upset over the fact that her mother, in one of her infrequent communications has told her daughter that she has gotten married, but their is still no place for her.  Halloween finally sees the adults letting up a bit and allowing the children to go trick or treating in supervised groups.  April convinces the kids to sneak off and play the game for a few minutes.  While there, two boys from April and Melanie's class, Ken and Toby crash the game and exchange for letting them play, agree to keep quiet.  The four original players are nervous about the new additions, but it turns out the boys, especially Toby have some great idea's to add to the game.  One night, while she is baby-sitting Marshall, April realizes she left a school book in the yard and takes Marshall to go get it.  On the out of the yard, April is grabbed by a man, and is saved when the Professor, the man who owns the yard the children were playing in, breaks a window and calls for help.  Marshall is able to identify the attacker and the murders are solved.  The Professor allows the children to continue to play in the yard and they all play until they get too old for playing to be cool.

So this is going to be a bit of a different ramble.  I will tell you right now that I loved loved loved this book.  The reason I loved it so much can be directly attributed to my own childhood.  Growing up my parents were pretty strict on the amount of time we spent in front of screens, not just TV, but any consoles, computers or handheld devices.  We were encouraged to play together, and with our friends.  To this end my three siblings and I, along with various friends, came up with the most elaborate games.  Most of the time these games took much longer to set up then they did to actually play.  Looking back the most amazing part was the ability of up to 14 kids (our parent's had a regular get together with a couple other families) ages 3-14 could actually communicate, coordinate and agree on a plan of action.  We had a diverse group, with TONS of idea's, lots of skill sets and and varied interests.  We used to set up whole towns, hold elections, build road signs.  We would write, cast, design, and produce our own plays.  We created whole worlds with their own magics, rules and ecosystems.  Sometimes our games would go on for days.  One of the things that struck me in the

book is that four of the six players were in sixth grade.  I cannot think of ANY sixth graders now who would be caught dead playing imagination games that did not involve a MMORPG game.  It makes me sad that even our younger kids, who are still willing to play, probably spend more time in front of a screen then in their playroom, and by the time they hit Middle School, they have turned into gadget toting pre-teens.  I hate that we now have an environment where we encourage our kids to grow up way to fast in certain area's, while teaching them to rely on social media and other people's opinions, rather then their own sense of self to judge their worth.  I am sure every generation feels like this, but when I read books like this, and realize how many social skills I learned by playing these types of games, and how most kids I know, even if they are in a room with other kids, don't do a whole lot of interaction.  I myself am a technology lover, and I don't want to "go back" to the way things were...I just hope we can find a way to spark that same elaborate sense of play and cooperation that I grew up with.  Ok so this was less of a ramble and more of a personal speculation, but one of the best things about a good book is it makes you think, and this book made me think...and remember.  I give this book an 8 out of 10 Crocodile gods and would suggest it to anybody who remembers a playroom without a screen.  Happy Reading Everybody!
What kind of games did you play growing up?  Do you think kids play differently today?  Do I have a valid point, or am I just old?

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Hello all, sorry for the screwy posting schedule this week, but I have been having issues scheduling stuff...but I think I have it under control.  Some times I wish I could just click me heels together and say "the blog post is done, the blog post is done", which brings me to today's rambling (did you like what I did there?).  I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to read something that did not require a lot of effort and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank. Baum fit the bill perfectly. As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Dorthy is transported from her home in gray Kansas to the wildly colored land of Oz.  Dorthy, her little dog Toto, and her house all land on the Wicked Witch of the East who had been enslaving the blue loving Munchkins and in the process obtaining her magic silver shoes.  They are all happy, but Dorthy just wants to return home, a kindly old woman who turns out to be the Good Witch of the North tells her that the only person powerful enough to do that is the Wizard of Oz who lives in the Emerald City.  Off Dorthy and Toto go, following that famous yellow brick road.  They meet up with the Scarecrow who wants brains, a tragic Tin Man who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants Courage.  The three stumble upon many adventures, and through their natural kindness make several friends who help them along their way.  They finally arrive in Oz which is all green, so very green, thanks to the green spectacles that are locked on to every person who enters the gates.  One by one the group finally meets the great wizard, each seeing

someone or something different, and each being tasked with killing the Wicked Witch of the West. Though none of the group want to actually kill anybody they go off to see what they can do about this pesky witch.  The witch seeing them coming uses her magic to conjure up numerous things to try and stop the group to no avail.  She finally uses her golden cap to summon the flying monkeys one last time (as you only can use it three times) to scatter the Scarecrow, lose the Tin Man and bring the Lion and Dorthy to her.  The witch keeps the Lion in a cage and Dorthy as a servant, but is secretly afraid of her as she has the silver shoes.  She tries to trick Dorthy into giving them to her, but Dorthy douses her in water, inadvertently melting her. Dorthy frees the Lion, and uses the golden cap to get the flying monkeys to help her find and reassemble her friends.  They head back to Oz, whom they discover is a fraud.  He finds a way to help them anyways and builds a balloon to take him and Dorthy back to Kansas.  Unfortunately the balloon flies away before Dorthy an get on board, leaving her trapped.  It is suggested that she go and visit the Good Witch of the South, Glinda, who can help her.  Off the four friends go and after a few more adventures the arrive at the Good Witches castle.  Glinda tells her that she had the power to send herself home all along, just by clicking her heels together and wanting to go home, she does this promptly, getting home, but losing the shoes in the process.  The Scarecrow becomes the king of the Emerald City, the Tin Man goes to rule the Winkies liked they asked him to, and the now courageous Lion becomes the King of the Beasts.  They all get what they wanted and live happily ever until the next book.

I have always loved this book for it's perfect simplicity and child like imagery.  This is not to say this is a simple book in a bad way, it is just nice to read a book that is fairly straight forward.  What strikes me the most about this book is how it feels like a story a little kid would make up...in a good way.  Hmmm I'm trying to think how to best explain what I love about this book.  Think of when you were little and you were making up games and the weirdly logical creatures and countries you would come up with and to me that is what reading this book feels like, playing a great game like I used to when I was little.  I know most people associate the story of Dorthy with the famous and wonderful movie, which I also love, but it loses so much of the little stories of all the side characters.  This is the other thing I love about this book, every single character mentioned in the book has a story and that gives an unexpected depth to the whole thing.  I like how the

different countries are all represented by a different color.  The Munchkins by blue, the Winkies by yellow, the Gillikans by purple, Quadling country by red and of course the Emerald city by Green.  There are also interesting little places like China Country and the field of deadly sleepy poppies.  Most of the places and people mentioned are used in the later books, eventually making a whole history and geography of this amazing and mythical land. This book has been reffered to as an American Fairytale, which is pretty cool, considering most of the older classic fairytales are European based.  If there are any downsides to this book it would be that the good guys are good, and the bad guys are bad.  It was first published in 1900 and is a bit of a morality tale for children, with the good and virtuous always winning over the bad and corrupt, not entirely surprising in a book written in this era, but still pretty black and white.  I love reading this book and the others (though I have yet to finish the whole series, but that will soon be remedied) because it reminds me of the pure imagination one can have. Also the wonderful illustrations by William Wallace Denslow add the perfect touch.  I give this book an 8 out of 10 silver slippers and recommend it to anybody who is need of a good imagination boost.
What book sums up childhood for you?  What is your favorite Oz character/race?  Where your childhood games as full of mixed up wonderful weirdness as mine were?