Keturah and Lord Death

Book: Keturah and Lord Death
Author: Martine Leavitt
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: saving the village and finding true love by telling stories to Death

After trying to follow the elusive white stag, Keturah is lost in the forest outside her village for three days. Lord Death comes for her, but she is able to buy herself some time by telling him a story and withholding the ending until the next day. Now she has one day to find her true love and save her village from the coming plague, or Lord Death will take her the next night. He has an unearthly beauty and regal bearing, and she realizes that she's seen him before. Ever since she was a child, Keturah has been able to see Lord Death waiting near people about to die.

She manages to put him off two more times, but that is the limit of his patience. Keturah secures love and happiness for her friends, health for some who should have died, gets the lord to fix up the neglected village, and even attracts the love of the lord's son. When the time comes, however, she is shocked to discover the identity of the man she has always loved.

Leavitt offers a striking combination of classic fairy tale/ fantasy elements and high romance. Death's presence in life is effectively portrayed, both as something to be feared, and something that makes life sweeter and more precious in contrast. Really well-written, highly recommended for fans of high fantasy/romance or fairy tale retellings.

My biggest hang-up with the story is philosophical. Lord Death is portrayed as holding the ultimate power in the universe, and being the true source of good. After all, if there weren't death and destruction, would we ever truly see the beauty in life? Saying Death is the ultimate good because he provides counterpoint for life seems backwards; if there were no death, life would still exist and be good, but without life death does not exist. Maybe that's just my wordview. But it's a good story that makes for entertainment, good discussion and deep thinking, which is a good thing, right?

The Death Collector

Book: The Death Collector
Author: Justin Richards
Audience: Grades 5 to 9
In a Nutshell: The Victorian London X-Files

George Archer works a quiet job at the British Museum until a scrap of paper and a zombie plunge him into a world of murder, monsters, and a megalomaniacal industrialist (that's fun to say). George has recently been offered a transfer to the Museum's Department of Unclassified Documents, a sort of Victorian X-Files, and what's happening definitely falls under their jurisdiction. His friend, Albert Wilkes, shows up at home for tea and dog walking four days after his own death. The Museum receives a set of diaries from a famous scientist named Glick. They seem like a minor thing until George's friend in Archives is murdered when armed thugs break in and try to steal the diaries. George ends up with the burned remains of the final diary page, and now rich industrialist Lorimer will do anything to get it. The young pickpocket Eddie Hopkins and aspiring actress Elizabeth Oldfield also get tangled up in the hunt for the truth about Glick's research and what Lorimer has in store for the world. There's also George's recently-deceased friend, the giant monster Eddie sees in the darkened fog, a (not entirely) phony séance, and a warehouse full of exoskeletons meant for no good.

Creepy, quick-paced tale with horror, adventure, dinosaurs, zombies- what more is there?

Engaging reading of the audio book by Steven Pacey.

Piratica II: Return to Parrot Island

Book: Piratica II: Return to Parrot Island
Author: Tanith Lee
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: heartache, shipwreck, and a pirate Pharaoh

I just loved the first Piratica, so a sequel made me go, "Ooo, look!" in Barnes and Noble. And I wasn't disappointed.

Months after Art Blastside's release from the hangman's noose (see book 1), she has inadvertently started a craze. Piratomania has struck Lundon (alternate spelling intentional), and people of fashion are sporting patches, swords and parrots. Art Blastside and Felix Phoenix are now married, famous, and landlocked, but the last part's about to change. A war between Free England and the monarchy of France is looming close, and the British government enlists the help of Art and her crew as privateers to "worry" French ships on the ocean. Art and Co. also hope to return to Parrot Island and find the maps and treasure they had to abandon before their capture months before. Felix does not want Art to go and risk her life, but the sea is her life, there's no question in her mind that she's going, and so all is not rosy at home.

Meanwhile, the nefarious pirate Little Goldie Girl is also after Parrot Island's treasure, not to mention revenge on Art for besting her and scarring her mean, nasty, otherwise flawless face. Both women will have to look out for the legendary black ship of Mary Hell, the Scandanavian widow out to kill all pirates to avenge her murdered husband. The adventure ranges from England to Mad-Agash to a shipwreck to Egypt, where Ebad, Art's adopted dad, has quite the family obligation to fulfill.

Action, adventure, and colorful characters abound, along with a touch of the highs and lows of married love, and a menagerie of animals such as parrots, rhinos, elephants, and Muck, the Cleanest Dog in England. Plots and characters weave in and out rather intricately, and it all comes together nicely in the end. The slightly alternative world has fun altered spellings of familiar places, like Mad-Agash Scar, and slightly altered history, both of which are fun to spot if you know the originals, but aren't necessary to know to enjoy the story.

Surrender

Book: Surrender
Author: Sonja Harnett
Audience: Teen to Adult
In a Nutshell: a good boy, a bad boy, a dog, and lots of arson

As 20-year-old Gabriel lays dying, he thinks back over his short life in the small Australian town of Mulyan: his emotionally distant/abusive parents, a horrible childhood mistake involving his severely retarded older brother, Vernon, and the wild boy Finnigan with whom he made a childhood pact. Pale, quiet Gabriel (real name Anwell) would become the good one, the angel, and Finnigan would be bad. Really bad. Throughout their childhood, Gabriel quietly allows teasing, unkindness, etc. to happen to him, but Finnigan always makes the transgressors pay later, usually by burning something important. As a series of fires, and worse, terrorize Mulyan, Gabriel knows he must take drastic action to stop Finnigan, even at the cost of his own life.

This is a beautifully written, delicate psychological thriller, if that description is possible. It does border on confusing sometimes- or most of the time, depending on how carefully you're following the jumps back and forth through the timeline. Finnigan is so wild and immoral he started really bothering me- I couldn't find much to like, even in a "love to hate 'em" kind of a way. But maybe that's just me, or maybe that was the point.
The end leaves many, many unanswered questions about what really happened- like does Finnigan really exist? Is the dog dead or alive? What's going on?? Unanswered-ness is not necessarily a bad thing, but expect to think with this one.

P.S.: Surrender is the dog's name.
P.P.S.: This book was a 2006 Printz Award finalist (in case you keep track of these things)

What Happened to Cass McBride?

Book: What Happened to Cass McBride?
Author: Gail Giles
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: write a catty note, get buried alive

After his troubled younger brother David commits suicide, Kyle Kirby takes revenge on popular, ambitious A-lister Cass McBride. He blames David's death on Cass's note, meant for her best friend's eyes, lamenting how that loser David Kirby had dared to ask her out. Kyle drugs Cass, kidnaps her, and buries her alive, with only a tube for air (or dirt) and a walkie talkie. Cass has always been good at reading people to get ahead, and now saying the right things to Kyle, asking the right questions, figuring out what he wants from her, why she's not already dead, is the only way she'll survive. Told in alternating chapters between Kyle, Cass, and the police detective Ben, the story unfolds of the Kirbys and their messed-up mother, the McBrides and Cass's driven, loveless father, what really drove David to hang himself from a tree in his front yard, and what finally does happen to Cass McBride.

This here's an intense, page-turning thriller with well-done characters. In spite of the fact that burying someone alive is never a good way to win friends and influence people, no one comes out seeming totally bad or good, not even Kyle. Read with caution if you are at all claustrophobic.

Grease Monkey

Book: Grease Monkey: A Tale of Growing Up in Orbit
Author: Tim Eldred
Audience: Grades 4 to 8
In a Nutshell: young mechanic works on a space station for a big ape

Robin Plotnik, a new junior spacecraft mechanic aboard the Fist of Earth, is assigned to work with Mac Gimbensky, a gorilla with accelerated evolution and a nasty temper. After the alien hordes attacked Earth and killed 60% of the human population, the Galactic Alliance scientists accelerated the physical development and intelligence of gorillas in order to give Earth a fighting chance of recovering in time to fend off any repeat attacks. Mac isn't really going to eat his assistant; he just has an artistic temperament and approach to his job, and he and Robin get along great. Their squadron is the top-ranked, all-female Barbarians. Robin quickly learns how things work on the ship, meets a girl (Kara, who works in the library), and teases Mac about his undying love for the ship's beautiful (to him) commanding ape, Admiral Stettler.

A funny, most-ages-appropriate comic; many short episodes are collected here. Judging from the haircuts it was started in the 1980's, but aside from that fashion detail it's good ageless fun.

The Higher Power of Lucky

Book: The Higher Power of Lucky
Author: Susan Patron
Audience: Grades 4-6
In a Nutshell: girl lives in a trailer in the California desert w/ her French guardian and dog, pondering bugs and the meaning of life

I'm way behind on my posts, so I'll make this short. This book won the Newbery Award for 2006, and that's why I read it. I honestly never would've given it a second look otherwise- just not my style. Set in a tiny, dusty California town, nice gentle cover illustration...nah. But I like to give the Newbery its dues, so I read it. It's well-written, certainly, and I did like it. But it's not an easy sell to most readers- unless you're sold on gentle, slightly quirky, and heartfelt. Which I guess some people are, and more power to you. I almost suspect that the librarian in California who started all the bruhaha about the scandalous use of the word 'scrotum' on page one was a plant by the publisher and/or Newbery Committee to generate press. Almost, but not quite.

PS: It was only a dog.
PPS: It was only a scrotum.

New Moon

Book: New Moon
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Audience: Teen and Adult
In a Nutshell: human-vampire-werewolf love triangle (or maybe just a love 'V')

In this sequel to the runaway hit, Twilight, Edward the love-lorn vampire is in and out of the picture after he and the rest of the undead Cullen family suddenly leave Forks, Washington, and Bella- for her own good, of course. The focus shifts to Jacob Black, Bella's reliable friend, who is disturbed by the weird changes running through the other guys in his tribe. Super-puberty hits some, and suddenly they get bigger, stronger, and run with a very tight crowd. The Big Change comes next to Jacob, and what a change it is. That's right, he's a werewolf. The only (un?)natural enemy of the vampire. And of course, he's in love with Bella, who's in love with Edward but Jacob's nice too, and Edward may be off in Italy finding himself and moping, but he's still got it bad for Bella. Add some Italian vampire mafia called the Volturi and you've got a globe-hopping supernatural soap opera.

Like the first book, this one is compulsively readable. My old roommate read Twilight three times in a row, I think (you know who you are, Katie Lind). And there are at least two more sequels in the works, so the lit crack fix goes on.

Fairest

Book: Fairest
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Audience: grades 5 to 8
In a Nutshell: Snow White retold with an ugly but beautiful heroine

Aza was left as a baby on the doorstep of a kindly innkeeper and his wife, who have raised her as one of their own. She knows two things about herself: she has a beautiful singing voice, and she is the ugliest person she knows. In the kingdom of Ayortha, singing is an integral form of expression in every part of life. Aza has another talent: she can throw her voice and imitate anyone, a unique skill she names 'illusing'.

The king's beautiful, foreign new wife, Ivi, is not a good singer, and she knows it. So she takes Aza on as her lady-in-waiting and threatens dire consequences if Aza does not sing for her at the many public functions where it's expected. Life in the castle surrounded by beauty and elegance is humiliating for self-concious Aza, but she quickly becomes friends with Prince Ijori, the king's nephew, then more than friends. When King Oscaro is seriously injured in an accident, Ivi takes power and, led by a mysterious 'advisor' (in her magic mirror), she quickly brings Ayortha to the brink of revolt against her. Aza is forced to flee, and during her exile she learns some very surprising truths about herself.

This is an enthralling, charming Snow White retelling set in the Ella Enchanted world. The songs woven throughout and spelling styles for different countries and creatures build the world and the atmosphere nicely. Aza's self-loathing and struggle with concepts of beauty ring true, and the ending is very satisfying without falling into the syrup. Highly recommended for fairy tale fans.

Gregor and the Marks of Secret

Book: Gregor and the Marks of Secret (Book 4 of the Underland Chronicles)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Audience: Grades 5 to 8

In a Nutshell: underground adventure and giant genocidal rats

In this Gregor teams up with Luxa, their bats Ares and Aurora, Luxa's cousin Howard, young Hazard fresh from life in the jungle, Temp the cockroach, and of course his little sister, Boots. Luxa's friends the Nibblers (mice) sent her a distress message, then disappeared. The Gnawers are probably responsible, with the huge, white-furred Bane leading them in genocide. When a tunnel collapses, the group is forced on a long route deep under the Underworld, where impossible air currents, volcanoes and more await them. The atrocities of the rats leads Luxa to make a Vow to the Dead, essentially declaring war on the rats.

The series contines strong in this penultimate book (I just love using that word). There's a big fat lead-in to the forthcoming final book. In other developments, Gregor is just now starting to see Luxa as a girl, and complications ensue. Gregor is also troubled about hating the idea of war, yet liking his violent rager moments more as he learns to control them. If I made a list of the top five adventure series for tweens, Gregor's books would be on it. Just one left, Gregor and the Code of Claw, due out in May 2007.

Toys Go Out

Book: Toys Go Out
Author: Emily Jenkins
Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky
Audience: Preschool to 2nd grade
In a Nutshell: the secret lives of toys

A know-it-all StingRay, Lumphy the buffalo, and Plastic have adventures with Show-and-Tell, a picnic, the beach, the Little Girl's high bed, TukTuk the towel, Frank the washing machine, and discovering their true natures: what exactly is a Plastic, and is StingRay a Sinker or a Floater? And will Little Girl still love them whatever they are?

Quaint, cozy story. The toys each have very distinct personalities, and even side characters like the One-Eared Sheep are memorable. Great read-aloud for 4-to-6-year-olds.

Murkmere

Book: Murkmere
Author: Patricia Elliott
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: eerie manor, bird worship, and a girl with a swanskin

Aggie is just starting her new job as lady's companion to the ward of Murkmere Manor. Her mother worked there years ago, but no one in the village likes to go near the creepy old mansion any more than they have to. The Master is confined to a wheelchair, and like its master, the house and lands seem to be deteriorating.

Leah was an orphan found at the gates who has been taken in by the Master since he has no children to inherit. She is haughty and willful, but she does love the Master and wants the best for the estate, starting with getting rid of the smooth but sinister steward, Silas Seed, as soon as she's in control. Many of the staff and people in the village think there is something unnatural about her; she's always running off into the dangerous mere and watching the swans. The society worships birds as sacred beings, both good and evil, and her obsession with them frightens average, honest people.

Leah and Aggie are walking in the mere one afternoon when they discover a hidden swanskin, which Leah is drawn to but Aggie fears and seeks to destroy. They gradually discover its true nature and Leah's hidden history, and how it all relates to the dreaded avia people who, according to official Ministration truth, were made half-bird by the Great Eagle as a punishment- or was it a reward?

Haunting, atmospheric, well-written story. Magic seems to infuse the story with its bird-based worldview and the misty, eerie, gothic setting, but only a hint of actual magic appears, and even that is implied.

A companion book called Ambergate tells the story of Scuff, the orphan kitchen girl in Murkmere.

Revenge of the Witch

Book: Revenge of the Witch (Book One of The Last Apprentice)
Author: Joseph Delaney
Audience: Grades 5 to 8
In a Nutshell: an apprentice spook accidentally lets a nasty witch out of her hole

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son, which doesn't leave him a lot of career options. With the family land and the more desirable apprenticeships already taken by his brothers, he's left with apprenticing as a feared but needed spook- a man who takes care of witches, ghosts and other unwelcome supernatural problems in the villages. Plus, according to his mam, he is destined to fill this position. The current spook, Gregory, is a strict but fair master, and Thomas has a lot to learn quickly. Things like how to deal with witches. For the worst of the lot, you can't kill them, because they'll just come back in a more dangerous form. You stick them in a hole and keep them alive, but barely. It seems cruel to Thomas, but he soon learns the wisdom of it when he is tricked into feeding nasty old Mother Malkin a special strengthening blood muffin (or something equally disgusting), and she escapes and goes after her favorite delicacy: little children. The "Mother"nickname is ironic. And she's not the only Nasty out there. The life of a spook is a lonely one; the town and even Thomas's own family may not welcome him anymore, but they need him.

Good creepy reading, and the first of a series.

Avalon High

Book: Avalon High
Author: Meg Cabot
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: King Arthur & Co. reappear in high school form

Elaine is the new kid at Avalon High. Her professor parents have moved from Minnesota to Annapolis, MD, for their one-year sabbatical. Elaine is just biding her time, floating in the pool and waiting for the year to be over so she can go back to her own friends and school. But then she meets Will on a jog in the park, and she is drawn into a high school drama with characters that bear an uncanny resemblance to King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the rest.

Fun reading, even if I did guess the ending very early on; slightly more meaty than Cabot's usual fun fluff, thanks to the infusion of Arthurian legend, but still easy going.

The Dragonslayer (Bone, book 4)

Book: The Dragonslayer (Bone, Vol. 4)
Author/Illust.: Jeff Smith
Audience: Grades 4 to 7 or so
In a Nutshell: Thorn chops an arm and accepts her destiny

If you've never read the Bone series of graphic novels, by all means, do it. Start at the beginning, with Out from Boneville. They're quick reads, they're clever and funny and all-around top-shelf material. After a few pages you forget that the protagonist is a lovable little femur (or something). And one of the rat creature cronies is obsessed with not merely eating the good guys, but baking them in a quiche. That's really funny to me.

The Goblin Wood

Book: The Goblin Wood
Author: Hilari Bell
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: hedgewitch leads goblins, knight tries to catch hedgewitch, nothing is as simple as it seemed

Makenna is a hedgewitch with limited power. She and her mother's kind used to be quietly accepted and used by the villages for healing and spells. Then the Hierarch and his priests declared all non-official magic evil. The villagers killed her mother, but she escaped, flooded the village, and swore off all human relationships. The goblins, who have also been declared evil and are no longer fed and appeased nearly so often, follow her and cleverly torment her until she finally captures one named Cogswallop, which starts her friendship with the goblins.
Five years later, she has become their "general" as the goblins drive away the increasing number of human settlers coming beyond the (human-built) Goblin Wall and into their northern woods.

Tobin, an honorable young knight convicted, punished, and exiled for a crime his brother commited, has a chance to redeem himself by leading the Hierarch's forces to the "Sorceress" controlling the goblins. He is soon captured by Makenna and the goblin army and gradually discovers that the goblins are not mindless savages, Makenna is not an evil sorceress, and the Hierarch and his priests do not have the pure motives he once thought they did.

I have yet to read a less-than-really-good book by Hilari Bell. She weaves in enough complex politics within her worlds to make the story that much more interesting, but never so much as to get confusing. Makenna is a fierce and independent character, and Tobin is very likable despite his oversimplified black-and-white views of the world early on. They both change and grow and there's action and adventure and cute goblin children and ain't that just the way a good book should go down?

Blue Bloods

Book: Blue Bloods
Author: Melissa de la Cruz
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: blood-sucking New York socialites really are blood-suckers

Schuyler Van Alen comes from old money and an old New York family, but the money has run low, and even her historic name doesn't keep her from being an outcast at Duchesne, a prestigious private school where most of the students can trace their ancestors back to the Mayflower. She and friends Oliver and newcomer Dylan keep to themselves and prefer more of a grunge/goth look to their classmates' uber-style. But just like some of her fellow sophomores, Schuyler has begun to get prominent blue veins and flashbacks to places and times she's never been.

Turns out she's a Blue Blood, better known as a vampire. They do feed on human blood, but not to the death, and after about a hundred years in one body, they go into a sort of blood hibernation until a drop of their blood is entered into another body and they are reborn. They are fallen angels who no longer follow Lucifer, but wish to regain God's favor and re-enter heaven. The same vamps have lived over and over since the time of ancient Egypt. But now something is happening to Blue Bloods. One of Schuyler's classmates is found murdered, drained dry by another Blue Blood. The leaders don't want to admit it, but the dreaded Silver Bloods have returned to gain power through the blood strength of other Blue Bloods.

I didn't want to like this book (needed to clean up my pile quickly), and I'm not entirely sure I did, but I couldn't stop reading. The constant label- and name-dropping irritated me to no end, but I wanted to know what would happen next. De la Cruz reveals the mystery of who BB's are very gradually, darn her. The ending is a huge set-up for the forthcoming books in the series. I would recommend this for older teen vampire fans, especially those drawn to Laurell K. Hamilton, mostly because vamp readers usually can't get enough and this isn't too bad. Maybe more fashion-minded readers will like all the name-dropping more, but it just got on my nerves.

Freedom Walkers

Book: Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Author: Russell Freedman
Audience: Grades 5-8
In a Nutshell: "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested."

Every school child past the age of 10 has heard of the Montgomery bus boycott, or at least they should have. But I realized that there were a lot of interesting parts of the story that I'd never heard, or at least had long forgotten. That's the great thing about Freedman's books: even for an occasional non-fiction reader like myself, the topics he picks are always engaging, the narrative is well written, and he finds the best photos available to illustrate. He's one of the only nonfic authors whose books I will pick up based on author alone and know I will leave the experience with more interest in the topic.

The Rules of Survival

Book: The Rules of Survival
Author: Nancy Werlin
Audience: Teen
In a Nutshell: When your mother is dangerous and you have no one to go to for help, who do you go to for help?

Matthew’s earliest memory is of his mother, Nikki, smashing one chair after another against the kitchen wall, for no reason. Now he’s thirteen, he has two younger sisters, and the three of them live on constant high alert; say the right thing and go through the motions of being happy and normal, or she’ll snap and instantly she’ll change from loving mother to dangerous monster. Sometimes she hits them, or threatens them with a kitchen knife, or screams at them and says horrible things. Sometimes it’s worse. Matthew tries to protect his sisters by taking her anger on himself, but that doesn’t always work. He knows this isn’t living; this is just surviving, but it’s all he knows how to do.

Then one Saturday night, after he sneaks out while Nikki is off partying, Matthew meets a man-- well, “meets” isn’t the right word. He only makes eye contact for a moment. It’s right after he sees this man stand up to some jerk who’s threatening his own son. The man’s name is Murdoch, and somehow Matthew is convinced that Murdoch can help them, maybe even save them. But he doesn’t know Murdoch’s last name, or anything about him, and Boston is a big city. Even if Matthew can find him, what does he expect one stranger to do when his own father is afraid to get involved? He doesn’t really know, but he can’t let six-year-old Emmy grow up in fear the way he and Callie have. But Nikki is unpredictable and very dangerous; the price of their freedom will be high, and not just for them.

If I could’ve read this book while driving, showering, and sleeping to avoid putting it down, I would have. It’s a gripping, perfectly-paced story about abuse, the good and bad sides of fear, the difference one person can make, and the pain we cause by just standing by.

Larklight

Book: Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space
Author: Philip Reeve (Illustrator: David Wyatt)
Audience: Grades 4-7
In a Nutshell: Victorian space adventure (yes, really!) with pirates, giant spiders, and a touch of romance

Art Mumby, his older sister Myrtle, and their scientist father live at Larklight, their old and quirky home in orbit just beyond the moon. Art dreams of adventure, and Myrtle dreams of visiting proper society on Earth- more specifically, in London, at the grand, soon-to-be-opened Crystal Palace commissioned by Her Majesty Queen Victoria. They both soon find much more excitement than they bargained for when giant white spiders attack Larklight and capture their father. The siblings manage to escape, and soon find themselves rescued by the notorious pirate Jack Havock, who turns out to be no older than Myrtle. His crew of assorted aliens are really a good sort, but then again, when's the last time you read an adventure story with pirates who were really, truly bad? The spiders haven't given up on finding Art and Myrtle; they seem to think there's a very important key to Larklight, and they won't stop chasing the Mumby's until they have it in their creepy, spidery clutches.

The action blasts from the moon, to Venus, to Mars, to the dangerous and mysterious rings of Saturn, then back to Earth, as Art and Myrtle are separated and eventually reunited as each one does their part to stay alive and save the solar system from destruction (those spiders aren't messing around). I adore Philip Reeve's Hungry City Chronicles for teens and adults, and this is just as good, plus appropriate for the grade school crowd. The action is non-stop, the world is clever and imaginative and full of great creatures like hoverhogs and the Tentacle Twins, and the characters are vivid and likable. Myrtle got on my nerves at first, being all stereotypically proper and girly, but she kicks butt in her own way by the end. Oh, and there are plenty of pen and ink illustrations, which is very helpful in trying to visualize all the fastastical creatures and places. Don't expect space and space travel to behave exactly like they do in real life, but once you hard-core realists get over it, this book is fantastic fun. If it weren't for Reeve's pesky British citizenship, I would put this on my personal Newbery Award shortlist.