Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

Kitty Pryde

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I read the first Rangers Apprentice novel. I have mixed feelings about it. Decent adventure, one dimensional characters, moderately sexist. I like the more recent book in the series more. I suppose he has had time to master the boy adventure genre.

I read the new Jerry Spinelli book too, Jake and Lily. I really liked it, though he rehashed a lot of his Don't Pick On Dorky Kids material from Crash, Wringers, and Loser. There was also a lot of stuff about the relationship between siblings changing as they grow. I liked Lily more than Jake as her journey was more original. Still highly recommend! It would be a great book for any kid who feels like a sibling is changing and leaving them behind.

Oh, and The Six Crowns: Trundle's Quest. Loved! It's sort of a cross between LOTR and Redwall, on flying sailboats. Yay! It's also lower MG, perfect for a fantasy fan who is not ready to tackle a super long fat book. It has a hedgehog wizard gypsy princess. What more do I have to say? :)

Now reading a sequel to another book, called A Hero For WondLa, which is very enjoyable!
 

kattbee

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Hi, this is my first proper post here :)
I'm an English teacher so my kids are always sharing their books with me. This term, I read The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series - very amusing! Seriously, I actually lolled at bits. And last year I read a fair few Captain Underpants books. I think I enjoyed them more than some of my second graders, to be honest!
I also love the Horrible Histories series and the other similar series they now have. One of my kids, a reluctant reader, was reading and enjoying "The Horrible Science of YOU!" from the Horrible Science series, which is a spin-off series. I love kids' books that tell it like it is!
 

MsJudy

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Meh, I keep up on my streak of reading not-so-impressive books by favorite authors. I just finished Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander. It's cute, I'll say that. Basically, the cat takes the boy on 9 separate adventures in time--Egypt, Ireland, Peru, etc. Each adventure lasts 2-3 chapters. Some of them are charming.

But... that's all there is to it. Compared to the Chronicles of Prydain, which I've read at least half-a-dozen times, it's a forgettable book. The Chronicles are really about something: how to be a hero, how to figure out who you really are. Plus the folktale/fantasy details are incredibly rich.

Time Cat was just... cute. Nothing more.
 

t0dd

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Meh, I keep up on my streak of reading not-so-impressive books by favorite authors. I just finished Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander. It's cute, I'll say that. Basically, the cat takes the boy on 9 separate adventures in time--Egypt, Ireland, Peru, etc. Each adventure lasts 2-3 chapters. Some of them are charming.

But... that's all there is to it. Compared to the Chronicles of Prydain, which I've read at least half-a-dozen times, it's a forgettable book. The Chronicles are really about something: how to be a hero, how to figure out who you really are. Plus the folktale/fantasy details are incredibly rich.

Time Cat was just... cute. Nothing more.

I agree with you that the Chronicles of Prydain were stronger and more memorable than "Time Cat" (I've read it as well, mildly enjoyed it, but it didn't last with me as "Prydain" did), but without "Time Cat", we wouldn't have had the Chronicles. Alexander had the idea of sending his protagonist to Dark Age Wales as one of the stops when writing "Time Cat", but when he researched it, he discovered so much that he decided it needed to be its own story, which led to the Chronicles of Prydain.
 

MsJudy

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Thanks, Todd, I hadn't realized they had been written in that order. That explains a lot, then, since the Chronicles are the work of a much more mature writer.

Side note--the copy of Time Cat had a picture of Alexander in the back. I'd never realized how much he looked like Fflewddur Flam...
 

Marzipan

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Man, did anyone here like the Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage? I'm trying very hard to like them, but so far I just keep wondering why the series is called 'Septimus Heap' when all I've heard about is the princess. A good bit of telling too. The only character I like is the Extra-Ordinary wizards mirror and it can't even talk :[
 

Britwriter

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I absolutely loved Septimus Heap. In fact, I keep meaning to read them again.

My kids both devoured the whole series and wanted more. They would go down in their list of favorites.

Read on if you've only just started. I recall the bit about the princess at the start, but it's been a while since I read them.

Now I"m going to dig them out again. :)
 

melanieconklin

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t0dd

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I enjoyed the Spiderwick Chronicles a lot, and highly recommend them.

This isn't exactly kidlit, but for anyone here (like MsJudy) who liked the Chroncies of Prydain, I also recommend Michael O. Tunnell's "The Prydain Companion", which contains a lot of information about the books and the Welsh legends they were based on - even a few "behind-the-scenes" pieces of information. (For example, originally they were to be a trilogy, the books that became "The Book of Three", "The Black Cauldron", and "The High King", but Alexander changed it into five books as he understood the story better. In particular, he brought in "Taran Wanderer" after realizing that Taran had to display more maturity in "The High King" than the first three books alone could account for, meaning a fourth book that would focus on his learning and growht.)
 

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That is great info, Todd, thanks for sharing it. I would like to read that book. Oh, for more time...

Melanie, I'm trying to do MMGM more consistently, too. I find so many wonderful books by clicking on the blog links. I'm also doing Top Ten Tuesdays and focusing on middle grade. My latest is here.
 

scarecrow

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I just read Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson. It is just fun. I was looking for something for DD who likes humor. Now I am on to Water for Elephants, not kidlit, but it's been on my to read list forever.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Love Whales on Stilts! You know there's a whole series of books about those kids? Have you read Babymouse? It's also hilarious!
 

kellion92

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I'm reading Icefall by Matthew Kirby, perfect for a hot night. I couldn't get into Clockwork Three but this one (Norse king's children in icebound exile with a traitor in their midst) is excellent.
 

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I haven't read it yet. Our local library doesn't have any of them. I saw a recomendation on the boards and got Whales. I think my DD will soon be hooked, (I read it first) so I think we will be reading them all soon.
 

Morrell

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I just read Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson. It is just fun. I was looking for something for DD who likes humor. Now I am on to Water for Elephants, not kidlit, but it's been on my to read list forever.

I :heart: Water for Elephants. Enjoy!
And I've never read Whales on Stilts; sounds like one I ought to check out.

ETA: back from Amazon, and omg. Hilarious. Read the discussion q's at the end of the preview.
 
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timp67

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I'm reading ABOVE WORLD by Jenn Reese and loving it.
 

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I've just finished 'The Spook's Apprentice' by Joseph Delaney. I guess you would call it horror, particularly at the beginning, where the boy is left in a haunted house on his own as a kind of initiation test. To be honest, I found the book quite bleak and depressing. Must be just me though, because it seemed to have good reviews!
 

MsJudy

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Nope, it's not you. The series is bleak and depressing. But for kids who are into that, it's very well-written. My 13yo has read them all, and really enjoys them. I have to be in the right mood, and usually need a bright and sunny palate-cleanser afterward, but I do think they're good.
 

monkeymum

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I agree it was very well written and it certainly hooked me enough to see it through to the end. Perhaps I was reading it through the eyes of a parent. I felt really sorry for Tom with his generally unsympathetic family and a lack of choice in career!
 

Marzipan

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I've just finished 'The Spook's Apprentice' by Joseph Delaney. I guess you would call it horror, particularly at the beginning, where the boy is left in a haunted house on his own as a kind of initiation test. To be honest, I found the book quite bleak and depressing. Must be just me though, because it seemed to have good reviews!

I'm going to third bleak and depressing, but I really like them anyway. In some places they drag, but toward the end of each book, I'm rushing to find out what happens.
 

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Has anyone read The Humming Room? It's a rewrite of The Secret Garden, and I think she did an amazing job. I loved Roo sooooo much. And the faigne was a very interesting character, too.
 

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About to start THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND...
 

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Has anyone read The Humming Room? It's a rewrite of The Secret Garden, and I think she did an amazing job. I loved Roo sooooo much. And the faigne was a very interesting character, too.

Yes, I really enjoyed The Humming Room. I'm reading another one now that also references Secret Garden, only it's a timeslip novel: Beswitched, by Kate Saunders. I like it a lot, too. Stick Secret Garden in it, and I'll like it, apparently. I had SG references in a novel I was working on a few months ago, but I took them out b/c it seemed too heavyhanded. Now all these newly released books are doing it. seems like I'm tapping into the zeitgeist, but not quickly or proficiently enough. Or something.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Finally got to read the third Incorrigible Children book. Still great fun, plot still moving way too slowly. My theory is that Agatha Swanburne and Timothy the coachman are secretly the grandparents of the Incorrigibles and Penelope...practically everybody is a werewolf...and the four of them were taken in because, uh, I have no idea. This series makes little to no sense. Eagerly awaiting the sequel!

I'm reading a book from the fifties, and I cannot decide how racist it is. I think it is, in the same way that The Little Rascals was: racist yet so much less racist than its contemporaries that it represents a huge leap forward. Anyway, it has two middle aged ladies who rent a summer house and take in their niece and two displaced children, one Russian and one, uhhh, Chinese?

When he's introduced, no one can say his name, which is "Hsu", so they all decide to call him Ping. Sigh. After that the kids pretty much behave in a non racist fashion while they have adventures, with the occasional adult popping in to offer a racist remark. Anyway, I think in 1950s contemporary British kid lit, there are little to no children of color, so he's something of an oddity. The author's son illustrated the book in a horrible stereotypical way. It's a great book but I dont think I'd give it to a 21st century child. The explanation needed to excuse everything in it is too depressing.
 

sissybaby

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Kitty - I had to get Whales on Stilts after you mentioned it. What a fun, silly, ridiculous book. Did you by any chance read the Guide, Questions and Interviews in the back? How funny.

anyway, thanks for mentioning it. Our library still doesn't have even the second Incorrigibles book. They make me nuts sometimes.