I really enjoyed it as well. It's amazing how something... let's say technically challenged, is so universally enjoyed.
Talk about the kidlit you're reading!
- Thread starter Kitty Pryde
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Just finished the first Fablehaven book. It was pretty good, but I didn't like the ending with how fast they rushed the final fight. I feel that is a big problem with children's literature (or at least the last half a dozen I've read.) They do this big build up, and then literally five pages later the big fight is over. There's no tension when it's like that.
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They might be got a slightly older audience, PK, but the Skulduggery Pleasant books have great fights that just keep getting better as the series progresses.
Dave
Dave
I just swiped Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf from the stack of new books donated from the book fair. It was kind of meh. I am a huge fan of the author, but this book is told in notes, tickets, report cards, referral slip, text messages etc. It didn't really work for me. One, I kept thinking, boy these people really like writing each other long, telly notes. And two, the subject matter was pretty serious but the format made it all seem superficial and dull. There was not much of a proper conclusion, the heroine just sort of randomly decided she was not depressed about her life. If it was written as a proper book I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. I couldn't read TTYL and TTFN either. I guess I am an old-fashioned grump.
Kitty, the only author I've ever seen truly pull off a completely epistolary novel is Jaclyn Moriarty. Her YA novels are awesome. My faves are The Year of Secret Assignments and Feeling Sorry for Celia.
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I finished The Book of Wonders by Jasmine Richards last night and you GUYS. It is sooooo good. Sort of a cross between Arabian Nights and Pirates of the Caribbean. Terrific action and adventure with beautiful writing and layered characters. I really, really loved it.
Now I'm starting Breadcrumbs.
Now I'm starting Breadcrumbs.
I'm with you. I"m reading BeanBoy, and totally get that it has all the cartooning stuff to make it 'boy friendly', but I find it distracting and don't want to read on. My girls are the same, and they like boy-type books. Just not books that are intentionally organized to entice boy readers. Give me the plain story anytime. I'm finding I"m skipping over the cartoons and notes, then can't follow what's happening. It's really taking some perseverence to read on.
I'll be interested to see what my son thinks of it.
Started the second fablehaven book and am about a quarter of the way done. I really like books that puts the fantasy world in everyday life and how others are oblivious to it. I don't know why, that just always pulls me in more.
*now entering pedantic mode*
That's called wainscot fantasy! The magical elements are hidden from normal people, the joke being that they are hidden in the wainscotting. Which is a kind of wooden wall panel!
*ends pedantic mode with a nerdy flourish and runs away, cape flapping*
*picturing Kitty's next Halloween costume... explaining to the kiddos why she's a caped pedantic... ***
The Caped Pedant! Able to annoy people with interesting facts! Oblivious to how bored everyone else in the room is! If you've got a question, she can answer it to an unreasonable level of detail!
Someone somewhere needs to know a fact! To the Pedantmobile!
*fastens bike helmet and pedals away*
Someone somewhere needs to know a fact! To the Pedantmobile!
*fastens bike helmet and pedals away*
His opinion is clearly superior to yours! Obviously you have been misinformed on the subject! He would like a belly rub but he's pretty sure your technique is incorrect...The Amazing Mr. Dogmatic! (He rides in the basket on the back of the Pedantmobile.)
Been lying about all weekend trying to not have a death cold virus anymore. I just read The Humming Room, the book that is basically a remake of The Secret Garden. LOVED. IT. It fixes the two main problems of the original, by being half as long, and not implying that disabilities can be cured via the power of positive thinking, while retaining all the lovableness of the original. Great characters, and a new setting, plus it's very fast paced. The only thing that gave me pause was the parents being murdered at the beginning of the book, but I guess if Neil Gaiman can do it then everyone ought to be able to...
ETA: AND! The heroine discovered something secret hidden in the wainscoting!! But! Ironically it was not wainscot fantasy.
And I read Where The Mountain Meets The Moon, which was also WOW. I loved the artwork. More MG novels should have really pretty pictures. And I like how all the legends are worked right into the story, and how they all connect as the plot goes on.
And I am halfway through Sprinkles and Secrets, which is decent but not exciting me as much as the book it is the sequel to, which was about cupcakes.
ETA: AND! The heroine discovered something secret hidden in the wainscoting!! But! Ironically it was not wainscot fantasy.
And I read Where The Mountain Meets The Moon, which was also WOW. I loved the artwork. More MG novels should have really pretty pictures. And I like how all the legends are worked right into the story, and how they all connect as the plot goes on.
And I am halfway through Sprinkles and Secrets, which is decent but not exciting me as much as the book it is the sequel to, which was about cupcakes.
I agree about the artwork. My daughter is reading Black Beauty right now - she was given a gorgeous copy with watercolors. She is spending as long looking at the artwork as reading.
On the other hand, we really disliked the illustrations in Fablehaven. I have no idea why they were even there. We disliked them to the point of actively covering them so that we didn't have to look at them while we read the page alongside. I didn't understand why a book like Fablehaven would need illustrations.
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Thanks for the heads up on The Humming Room - that looks really cool. I love discovering books on this thread that I'd never hear about otherwise.
I just finished Breadcrumbs. I don't know. It was gorgeous writing, sure. I loved all the literary references. But it was one of those critically acclaimed books that make me wonder whether any actual middle grade readers would enjoy it. Do any of you have kids/students who read it?
I just finished Breadcrumbs. I don't know. It was gorgeous writing, sure. I loved all the literary references. But it was one of those critically acclaimed books that make me wonder whether any actual middle grade readers would enjoy it. Do any of you have kids/students who read it?
Read a great fantasy classic, The Children of Green Knowe. In modern terms I guess we would call this a quiet book. It's your basic lonely child headed to a large manor in the English countryside which is full of mystery. The whole book is about his attempts to see, talk to, and hang out with the awesome kid ghosts who live there. The way the environment and the ghosts were built up, and the sensory details, made it really amazing. There wasn't too much plot but I really didn't miss it 
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!Just finished the second Fablehaven book. I kind of predicted the big twist at the end early on, but all-in-all very good book. I look forward to starting the third one.
That's interesting - my 11 yo saw the twist coming immediately, and told us straight out what was going to happen. The moment she said it, it was really obvious. I don't know how much longer it would have taken me to work it out, but it rather spoiled it to know what was coming.
I just finished Cosmic today. I loved it once I got about half way through, but it took me a while to get into it. I didn't like the start, and had to force myself to read on.
However, once I got halfway, I loved it, and finished it in an afternoon.
Just finished Bess1ca Lefter Bites Back. It was a bit lighter than I like, but well written. My one sentence summary would be: Junie B. Jones starts middle school and becomes the school mascot. The MC had that good manic uncontrollable spirit of mayhem and cluelessness that makes JBJ so loveable. And my one complaint would be (and no insult meant to the Bess1ca's of the world, but) what sort of name is that? Every time I read it I would cringe. 
Just spent the afternoon moping around and reading Bliss. Magical cakes! Very cute story, but it also had some creepy overtones like Coraline. I will totally read the sequel.
I read the new Daniel P1nkwater chapter book, Mrs. N00dlekugel. I was extremely underwhelmed. Not that weird, not that funny, and not that interesting. Good title though.
I read the new Daniel P1nkwater chapter book, Mrs. N00dlekugel. I was extremely underwhelmed. Not that weird, not that funny, and not that interesting. Good title though.
I was able to get a little further into Bliss. Not at the creepy undertones part, but you have now piqued my interest. That will be my book today. I have about 5 books started and need to commit.
Just finished Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I was very impressed by it. It lacked in plot and was very episodic, but the story was still utterly engaging and the MC endearing.