a much better showing than last year

Hooray...I did it...I finished Quest the Third for Carl's Once Upon a Time II Challenge!

Last night Rich, Annie, and I finished up our reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream. What fun! This is one of the many of Shakespeare's plays that I had never read. I knew it was a "lighter" one, but geez, why didn't anyone ever tell me how funny is?!! Truly, laugh out loud funny. This is the second Shakespeare play that Rich, Annie, and I read aloud, and I have to say that it is a great way to experience these plays. Now if we could just go see it performed live!

Anyway, back to the challenge itself...

I enjoyed every book I read:
*Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson
*100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson
*The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block
*The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
*A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
*A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

And while I enjoyed some more than others, I'm not really sure I could pick a favorite. I would most definitely read more by any of these authors! In fact, I'm having a really hard time not starting the next Sisters Grimm book right now, but I promised myself I would finish up some of the books I've got started before starting any more.

Thank you Carl for everything...being the most wonderful challenge host imaginable, hosting the coolest challenges, and most of all, for being such an incredible person!

The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives...random thoughts

The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley (first in the The Sisters Grimm series).

I think I'm probably like a lot of people, in that I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite "section" in the book store or library. I love the history section, and the science section, and the fantasy/sci-fi section, and the young adult section...you know how it is, right? But I have reached the conclusion that up there among my favorites has to be the section designated for readers 8-12. You know, I think I may even enjoy these books more than young adult books. Not sure what this says about me...I'd like to think that it means I'm young at heart, but I'm sure other theories may be equally valid.

I think the first book that totally captivated me from this section (as an adult) was Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. Then there was Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke. Recently, I fell hard for Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson. And now, there's The Fairy-Tale Detectives. Oh my, how this little book charmed me!

Sabrina, age 11, and Daphne, age 7, have spent the last year and a half bouncing back and forth from an orphanage to various foster homes. No one really knows what happened to their parents; they simply disappeared without a trace. The orphanage recently found their grandmother living in a small town by the name of Ferryport Landing, New York, and is delivering the girls to stay with her.

Relda Grimm is a sweet, eccentric old lady. Daphne is immediately smitten with her grandmother, while Sabrina is immediately suspicious. Daphne, after so much time in foster homes, is so anxious for love that she throws caution to the wind. And Sabrina, the big sister and protector, has learned that it isn't safe to trust anyone. And she has more than adequate reason for suspicion this time, as the girls had grown up believing their grandmother was dead.

As the story unfolds, we learn why their father had chosen to lie to them in this way. And why their grandmother wasn't able to come and get the girls before now. And many, many, many other secrets of the town of Ferryport Landing and its residents.

It probably hasn't escaped your notice that the family's surname is Grimm, has it? And yes, that is because they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm. Specifically, Sabrina and Daphne are Wilhelm Grimm's great-great-great-great-granddaughters. And you know that book of fairy tales? Well, they aren't really fairy tales at all! The stories they collected are true...it's real-life history!

But long ago, due to the changing face of the planet and the cruelties of man, these fairy tale creatures, who prefer to be called Everafters, were forced to move to a little area in New York. Baba Yaga then put a spell on the area to make sure that no Everafter could leave and thus jeopardize the survival of the others. The Grimms made the journey with the Everafters and have lived there ever since. Granny Relda continues to record history as it happens, and often finds herself playing detective when things go awry in Ferryport Landing.

Soon after the girls arrive, Granny and her faithful companion, Mr. Canis, are kidnapped by a giant, and it falls on Sabrina and Daphne to solve the mystery and save their grandmother.

There wasn't much about this book that I didn't find perfectly delightful! From the surprising ways Mr. Buckley interpreted some of the well-known fairy tale characters, like Prince Charming, and the Three Little Pigs, and my personal favorite, Mirror. To the way he made the girls so believable. For instance, when the girls were riding on the train with the sour woman from the orphanage...

"Do they have bagels in Ferryport Landing, Ms. Smirt?" Daphne now asked the woman sitting across from them. Ms. Minerva Smirt was the girls' caseworker. She was a pinch-lipped, humorless woman in her late fifties. She had had her hooked nose buried in a book for the entire train ride. Sabrina knew she was reading only so she wouldn't have to talk to them. Ms. Smirt looked up at Daphne with an annoyed scowl and sighed as if the question was more than she could bear.

"Of course they have bagels. They have bagels everywhere," Ms. Smirt snapped.

"Not on the moon," Daphne replied matter-of-factly as she returned her gaze to the window.

I can so easily picture Gray, also aged 7, replying in the exact same manner. Not trying to be a smart-mouth, just pointing out the obvious-to-him error in something one says.

What more can I say? I just so loved this little tale, and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I certainly can't guarantee that this book will enchant others the way it enchanted me, but if you're looking for some light, fun, fanciful reading, this book might be just what the doctor ordered.

*****

If you've also reviewed this book, feel free to leave a link in the comments, and I'll add it here. Thanks.

Becky at Becky's Book Reviews

*****

Read for:



The Once Upon a Time II Challenge.

The 1st in a Series Challenge.

The Rose and the Beast...random thoughts

The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block. I first have to say that this book caught me totally off-guard. Being new to the world of fairy tales, and even more so to the world of fairy tale retellings, I suppose it's not surprising that I'm just now finding out what a vast variety of story telling this genre encompasses. The nine tales contained within this book are unlike any I had read. They have a very urban flavor to them.

Edgy. Seductive. Dark. And yet lyrical.

These stories are so incredibly beautifully written, and they are so hauntingly tragic. The subject matter isn't pretty...child sexual abuse, heroin addiction, serial murder. And yet the language is utterly enchanting.

Fires like dragon's breath consumed the poppies and lupine, the jacaranda trees that once flowered purple in sudden overnight bursts of exuberance as if startled at their own capacity for gorgeousness.

And the stories hold their own enchantment as well, for through all the harsh realities, Block manages to show us the true magical power of love. I admit it, I was mesmerized. As always seems to be the case with a collection of stories, I enjoyed some more than others. The only one I didn't really like, however, was Tiny. And the other eight stories were more than enough to make up for my disappointment in this one. Charm was definitely among my favorites. As was Beast, which I thought was a brilliant way to reinterpret Beauty and the Beast.

I had originally planned to use this for Annie's fairy tale unit, but have changed my mind. She's certainly no stranger to young adult books, nor to tough issues like the ones contained within these stories. But I'm afraid she doesn't quite have the maturity to deal with these issues in the way they happen to be told within the pages of this book. They are maybe just a bit too raw for her, if that makes any sense.

*****

If you have also reviewed this book, please leave a link in the comments and I will be sure to post it here. Thanks.

*****

Read for:














Once Upon a Time II.

Margaret A. Edwards Reading Challenge.

A-Z Reading Challenge.

Horns & Wrinkles...random thoughts

Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson. I was really in the mood for a cute, fun story...and let me tell you this one truly fit the bill! It was utterly adorable! Hmmm...in the first two sentences, I've already used the words "cute" and "adorable". This is quite funny, considering most of the characters in this book are anything but! Take for example, Jim Dandy Eel-Tongue, Biz Mossbottom, and Stump Fishfly, three river trolls. They are somewhat less than attractive with their speckled scales, stubby tails, webbed feet, and long claws, not to mention the stench they sport due in part to their river home and in part to their poor hygiene. And in addition to their physical lack of adorable-ness, they are not particularly loaded with fine character traits. No, politeness, honesty, helpfulness, none of these are high on their list of priorities. And yet, they grew on me. They really did.

And don't you just love their names? Lots of good names in this book, my favorites being Fancy Leechlicker, who doesn't really play a big part in the story other than the fact that she's married to Jim Dandy, and Bodacious Deepthink, the evil rock troll. Bodacious Deepthink...one could really go far with a name like that, don't you think?

Anyway, on to the story. Claire, an 12-year-old girl, with an affinity for toads and turtles and the like, lives in a small town along the upper Mississippi River. Strange things seem to happen near the river. No one really likes to talk about these strange "rivery" things, but then again, everyone seems to have a story to tell. The book begins when Duke, Claire's cousin, dangles her by her ankles from an old bridge over the river. This is not unusual behavior for Duke. He's a bully through and through. Remember how I said that the river trolls grew on me...well, Duke never did. But Duke pays the price for his mean spiritedness. As he's dangling his younger cousin from the bridge, some of this river magic visits them in the form of an old lady. From a boat on the river, she saves Claire. And another bit of river magic lands upon Duke, changing his nose into a horn. And every time Duke lets loose with some bullying, his horn grows longer in a painful way.

The adventure is just beginning...Duke "befriends" the three river trolls, his parents are turned to stone, the river trolls search for fallen stars to save their own fathers, Duke continues with his physical transformation...

Eventually it is left to an unlikely foursome (Claire, the old lady, who is really a Blue Wing fairy, Stump, the river troll, and Reliable St. John, a cricket who is incapable of telling the truth) to save the day. As I said above, this is just a totally adorable little tale.

There was one passage I particularly loved. Perhaps because I found it so tempting to believe. Or maybe I really do believe it. Anyway, this occurs when Claire asks the old lady why she doesn't have a name...

"My name's gone into a spell," she said at last. "A spell that lets magic work along this stretch of river. If it wasn't for the spell, the magic folk around here would have all been drowned a century ago by these modern times."

"How can you be drowned by time?" I frowned.

"Very easily," she sighed, turning away from me to gaze out the window at the river. "A long while ago, magic worked anywhere in this world. Magic folk lived where they wanted, practiced magic as they like. Not at all like these days, when magic sputters and fizzes at best. Just try walking through a brick wall. You'll see what I mean. Today there's only a few enchanted pockets left here and there, protected by spells that shield them from the passing of time. We dare not stick a toe outside the spell protecting us or we freeze up worse than ice."

"Even in summer?"

"Especially in the summer. I'm talking of a different kind of cold than you're thinking of, my dear. Cold caused by time is a cold that you feel on the inside. More like loneliness than ice. And when any of us feels it, we can't help but burn ourselves up trying to keep warm. Usually we magic folk stay warm by migrating, like birds in the fall, but those of us along the river here have been left behind, stranded."

"How'd that happen?"

"Miscalculations," she said with a grim look that discouraged follow-up questions.

"But where do you migrate to?" I asked.

"Other worlds, where the time for magic is now."

I nodded slowly, thinking of those other worlds until a thought occurred to me.

"If you're like the birds, does that mean you come back in the spring?"

"Oh, yes," the old lady said, brightening. "That's what we're waiting for. Our spring, when magic will work all over this world again...."

Oh, don't you just wish their spring would arrive?!!

By the way, the art in this book...unbelievably charming! Yes, one of those books I bought because of the cover. Just a week or so ago, Carl featured the artist, Nicoletta Ceccoli, in his Friday Favorites post. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't already read it.

My only regret concerning this book was that I didn't read it aloud to the boys. I know they would love it...I can just hear Gray saying, "Just one more chapter." And then, "Just one more chapter." And again with, "Just one more chapter." (But I did tell Rich that it would be the perfect choice for his next read-aloud with the boys, after they finish A Series of Unfortunate Events.)


















And finally, I haven't yet read any other reviews of this book, but if you've written one, please leave me a link in the comments and I'll be sure to add it here. Thanks.

Natasha at Maw Books
Deslily at Here, There, and Everywhere
Annie at Words by Annie
Medbie

100 Cupboards...random thoughts

I adored this book. In fact, as I read it, I kept thinking to myself, "I just love everything about this book." I stopped thinking that during the last two pages, however. I didn't like the epilogue. I'm not really even sure why. It's not that it changed anything about the book, or that it wasn't well-written, or that it didn't make sense. Maybe that's it...it made too much sense. It almost felt like the beginning of a new book...the sequel that you could already tell was coming anyway. I apologize...I don't think I'm making much sense here, am I? So let's move away from this trifling little criticism and on to what was so wonderful about this book...everything else.

The writing. It's so sweet and simple. Nothing complicated, but so completely endearing. The book begins:

"Henry, Kansas, is a hot town. And a cold town. It is a town so still there are times when you can hear a fly trying to get through the window of the locked-up antique store on Main Street. Nobody remembers who owns the antique store, but if you press your face against the glass, like the fly, you'll see that whoever they are, they don't have much beyond a wide variety of wagon wheels. Yes, Henry is still town. But there have been tornadoes on Main Street. If the wind blows it's like it won't ever stop. Once it's stopped, there seems to be no hope of getting it started again.

There is a bus station in Henry, but it isn't on Main Street. It's one block north--the town fathers hadn't wanted all the additional traffic. The station lost one-third of its roof to a tornado fifteen years ago. In the same summer, a bottle rocket brought the gift of fire to its restrooms. The damage has never been repaired, but the town council makes sure that the building is painted fresh every other year, and always the color of a swimming pool. There is never graffiti. Vandals would have to drive more than twenty miles to buy the spray paint.

Every once in a long while, a bus creeps into town and eases to a stop beside the mostly roofed, bright aqua station with the charred bathrooms. Henry is always glad to see a bus. Such treats are rare."

With those first three paragraphs, I was sold. I was in love with the little town of Henry, Kansas. And it didn't take long until I was taken with the characters, too. Well, with two of the characters, in particular. (Actually, I suppose some of the characters could stand a bit more development, but I suspect we'll see that in books to come should they begin to take bigger roles.) Uncle Frank is by far my favorite. Wilson writes,

"People liked Dotty. They said she was interesting. They rarely did the same for her husband. They said Mr. Willis was thin, and they didn't just mean physically. They meant thin everywhere and every way. Dotty saw much more than thin, and she liked him. Frank Willis didn't seem to notice much of anything beyond that."

We get to see much more than "thin" as well. We come to know a quiet, thoughtful man who loves his wife and family. I really came to respect Frank, and felt a genuine fondness for him. But he's not the main character in the story. No, that would be Henry.

Henry, a twelve-year-old boy, arrives on one of those rare buses into town. He's come to stay with his Aunt Dotty, Uncle Frank, and their three daughters after his parents are kidnapped in a foreign country. Henry has always been seriously over-protected, and while he's nervous about fitting into a new family and a new town, it's obvious that he's somewhat excited about it, too.

One night, bits of plaster fall into Henry's hair from the wall of Henry's attic bedroom. On closer inspection, Henry finds two knobs poking through the plaster. And this is only the beginning. Henry begins chipping away at the plaster, and finds little doors hidden beneath. He eventually uncovers the entire wall and finds it houses 99 cupboards. Yes, I know, the title is 100 Cupboards...but if you want to find out where cupboard 100 comes in and what these cupboards contain, you'll just have to read the book. Suffice it to say, that this book is quite suitable for the Once Upon a Time challenge.

This book is labeled as being appropriate for 9-12-year-olds. I think that kids even a little younger might enjoy it. Though it does become a bit darker and scarier toward the end, and I would keep that in mind if your kiddo is easily frightened...like my sweet little 7-year-old.




















And thus ends this rambling jumble of thoughts that I'm passing off as a book review for my challenges (Once Upon a Time II, Initials Reading Challenge, The A-Z Reading Challenge and Numbers Reading Challenge).

A Wolf at the Door...random thoughts

A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, was my first read for Once Upon a Time II. It was a nice kick-off for me, a quick and satisfying read to get started. It consists of 13 tales by a variety of authors, some of whom I was familiar with and some of whom I wasn't (though I'm sure long-time fantasy lovers are probably familiar with all of them).

Of all the tales, there was only one which didn't really appeal to me. And that's not to say it wasn't good, it just wasn't for me. Which is really a shame; I wanted to love the story, because I really loved its title, "The Seven Stage a Comeback". I'll bet you can guess what fairy tale that one comes from, huh? Anyway, aside from that one by Gregory Maguire, I really did enjoy all the others. Some more than others, of course.

I won't talk about each one, but just mention a few of my favorites. I really enjoyed the one by Neil Gaiman, though it wasn't really a fairy tale retelling. It was titled "Instructions"...and that's just what it was, instructions for what to do if you ever find yourself stuck in a fairy tale. Very cute. Very clever.

I found myself laughing aloud at "Cinder Elephant" by Jane Yolen. Our heroine in this Cinderella retelling is Eleanor. She is dubbed Cinder Elephant by her "skinny as a straw" and "skinny as a reed" stepsisters. You see, Eleanor, while quite a lovely girl, is not a size two or four, or even six or eight, and she has very large feet. And yes, she is sweet, and she is smart, and she does capture the prince's heart with her knowledge of sports.

"Hansel's Eyes" by Garth Nix is more in the deliciously frightening category of fairy tale retellings, much as Hansel and Gretel is a deliciously frightening fairy tale. A video game, a cat sewn together from the pieces of other cats, and a cold room to store human organs all play a part in this story. I really enjoyed this sinister tale!

And finally, I'll mention the last tale in the book, "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by Patricia A. McKillip. Annie and I read this fairy tale not too long ago, and both agreed that while we loved the story in general, we were disappointed in its ending. I was definitely not disappointed in the ending of Ms. McKillip's retelling. In fact, I loved her retelling much more than the original tale, in part because of the ending, but also just because of her unique twist on the tale as a whole.

All in all, I can definitely say that I found this to be quite a delightful little book!

giddyness abounds

Yep, I know many of you are as excited as I am this morning. Carl has "made it official"! Once Upon a Time II begins on Friday!

I swear I've been checking his blog 5 times a day for the past week or so just waiting for this post. (Come on, admit it...I know I wasn't the only one!) I wanted to read what "the quests" were this year before putting together my list. But you know what, I still couldn't do it...I ended up with a pool of books to choose from instead of a strict list.

It's funny, a year ago when I joined this challenge, I was almost entirely unfamiliar with fantasy. I joined for two main reasons...a.) because Annie was such a fantasy lover and I wanted to be able share in some way in her passion, and b.) to expand what had become over the years very narrow reading horizons. What I didn't realize at the time, was how deeply in love I would fall with this genre. (And it goes without saying, the friends I made as a result of last year's Once Upon a Time challenge, are an even bigger gift!)

Anyway, I am so excited for Friday to arrive so I can dive right into my first book...though what that will be, I haven't yet decided. But in the meantime, I have two incredible books to finish up (The Fellowship of the Ring and The Goose Girl). Two books I never would have been reading if it hadn't been for Once Upon a Time.