MMGM: The Wizard's Test

Today's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday pick:

The Wizard's Test, by Hilari Bell

The Wizard's Test

Written by Hilari Bell
Cover illustrated by Cliff Nielsen
HarperCollins, 2005
Ages 10+, Lexile 720L
176 pp, 32000 words


Themes:
Fantasy, Destiny, Colonialism


Opening:
"Wizard born!"
Dayven reached for his sword hilt as he spun in search of the speaker. Early in the morning the courtyard was crowded—not only with Watcherlads like Dayven, who'd come for a little extra sword practice, but also with adult Guardians, who were there to increase their skills with sword and lance. Someone had put a lot of effort into that hissing whisper, to make it audible over the clang of metal on metal...but who?

Thoughts:
The Wizard's Test is a stand-alone fantasy novel about an apprentice in a feudal system who must embrace his sordid wizard heritage to spy on his lord's enemies in order to attain his goal of Guardian in the army. Bell's books are self-described as "morally ambiguous." In each that I've read, she poses ethical questions to both the characters and the reader, usually dealing with consequences, violence, or cultural enmity. This book fits that mold. It rather reminds me of Lloyd Alexander's books rather than Avi's. Avi consistently makes you care about the rogue, the thief, the liar, and then ridicules the opposition so the reader is compelled to agree with the main character's decisions. Both Bell and Alexander make you care about characters from both sides of an issue, and challenge you to decide what you might do in a similar situation. They want you to think before you act. This book is one of Bell's earlier works, and doesn't show the mature writing style of her later books. It does however include interesting world-building, deft plotting, subtle humor, and charming characters. Thought-provoking and age-appropriate with some battle scenes.


Bonus: 
1. If you are interested in learning more about Hilari Bell, you can find an early interview on Writers Write, her publishing ventures on Publisher's Weekly, and a personal perspective from the author at the start of her career on the Enchanted Inkpot.

2. I love Hilari's Shield, Sword, and Crown trilogy about a young man's quest for the enchanted objects which will save his world. She has written loads of other books which you can find on her Goodreads page.

3. Looking for books with a similar vibe?
The Ascendance trilogy or Mark of the Thief series by Jennifer Nielsen and covers by Ken Choi and Larry Rostant, respectively.
The InkHeart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke with covers by Carol Lawson.
The Westmark books or The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha by Lloyd Alexander.
Keeper of the Lost Cities series by Shannon Messenger, covers by Jason Chan.

Reviewed by Literary Rambles

Mark of the Thief #1
reviewed by Karen Yingling

Queen's Thief #5 reviewed by
GeoLibrarian and Ms. Yingling

Reviewed by Middle Grade Mafia

The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha,
by Lloyd Alexander,
Illustrated by Laszlo Kubinyi

Keeper of the Lost Cities series
reviewed by Cindy and Michelle

Check out all the recommended titles for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for October 2, 2017 available on Shannon Messenger's Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe.

Feel free to leave your MG recommendations in the comments. Thanks!

MMGM: Ozma of Oz

Today's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday pick:

Ozma of Oz, The Books of Wonder edition 

Ozma of Oz

Written by L. Frank Baum
Illustrated by John R. Neill
Originally published by Reilly & Lee, 1907
Wiliam Morrow/Books of Wonder, 1989
Ages 8-12, Lexile 1070L
272 pp, 37000 words


Themes:
Fantasy Adventure


Opening:
"The wind blew hard and joggled the water of the ocean, sending ripples across its surface. Then the wind pushed the edges of the ripples until they became waves, and shoved the waves around until they became billows. The billows rolled dreadfully high: higher even than the tops of houses. Some of them, indeed, rolled as high as the tops of tall trees, and seemed like mountains; and the gulfs between the great billows were like deep valleys.
"All this mad dashing and splashing of the waters of the big ocean, which the mischievous wind caused without any good reason whatever, resulted in a terrible storm, and a storm on the ocean is liable to cut many queer pranks and do a lot of damage.
"At the time the wind began to blow, a ship was sailing far out upon the waters. When the waves began to tumble and toss and to grow bigger and bigger the ship rolled up and down, and tipped sidewise—first one way and then the other—and was jostled around so roughly that even the sailor-men had to hold fast to the ropes and railings to keep themselves from being swept away by the wind or pitched headlong into the sea."


Thoughts:
Dorothy, accompanied by Billina the hen, travel to Ev to battle the Nome King and free the royal family.

I was surprised how much I liked this book. Though I like Oziana, I would not consider myself a fan of the original series. In general I find I like the ideas more than the stories themselves. Ozma is an exception. Perhaps I've grown wiser or perhaps this book is just funnier. I loved the writing style better than previous books. Of course, I saw the movie when I was in high school (do the math) and absolutely fell in love with many of the characters from Ozma. The movie played in my head as I read.

Have you read any of the other Oz authors? Most people say the sequels are inferior to L. Frank Baum's stories, but I am fond of John Neill's The Purple Prince of Oz. 

You'll find my review of the movie Return to Oz on last Friday's Summer Drive-In.


Bonus: 
1. Fans can join the International Wizard of Oz Club.

2. Ben, of My Comfy Chair, reviewed Rinkitink in Oz for MMGM way back in 2011.

3. Other MMGM bloggers recommend

Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms, by Chris Colfer, reviewed by Reading Violet.
The Ever Afters: Of Sorcery and Snow, by Shelby Bach, reviewed by Green Bean Teen Queen.
The Aviary, by Kathleen O'Dell, reviewed on That's Another Story
No Passengers Beyond This Point, by Gennifer Choldenko, reviewed here on Middle Grade Mafioso.
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis, reviewed by BookishAmbition.

The Land of Stories book 4,
by Chris Colfer
and Brandon Dorman

Ever Afters book 1,
by Shelby Bach and Cory Loftis

The Aviary,
by Kathleen O'Dell
Cover by Molly Bosley

No Passengers
Beyond This Point, 
by Gennifer Choldenko
and Tyson Mangelsdorf

Check out the Summer Drive-In review of Return to Oz partially based on Ozma of Oz, from
August 18, 2017.
View all the Summer Drive-In reviews for 2017.

Check out all the recommended titles for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for August 21, 2017August, 21, 2017 available on Shannon Messenger's Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe.

MMGM: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Today's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday pick:

First edition The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
by C. S. Lewis and Pauline Baynes

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Written by C. S. Lewis
Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
HarperCollins, 1952
Ages 8-12, Lexile 720L256 pages, 54000 words


Opening:
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters called him Scrubb. I can't tell you how his friends spoke to him, because he had none. He didn't call his Father and Mother "Father" and "Mother," but Harold and Alberta. They were very up-to-date and advanced people. They were vegetarians, non-smokers and teetotalers and wore a special kind of underclothes. In their house there was very little furniture and very little clothes on beds and the windows were always open.

Eustace Clarence liked animals, especially beetles, if they were dead and pinned on a card. He liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or had pictures of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.

Eustace Clarence disliked his cousins the four Pevensies, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. But he was quite glad when he heard that Edmund and Lucy were coming to stay. For deep down inside him he liked bossing and bullying; and, though he was a puny little person who couldn't have stood up even to Lucy, let alone Edmund, in a fight, he knew that there are dozens of ways to give people a bad time if you are in your own home and they are only visitors.


Thoughts:
How amazing is that opening? Reminds one of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, doesn't it, with its tongue-in-cheek way of showing us Eustace's personality and the author's opinion of "advanced people?"

Edmund and Lucy return to Narnia to help Caspian regain the lost parts of his island kingdom and to find his missing subjects. I like the questing format of this particular book and the series of short adventures the characters face. That and the old-fashioned writing may not appeal to every child. For more reluctant readers, try reading aloud or audio versions. We thoroughly enjoyed reading them together around the fireplace when the kids were little, I think we started when the youngest was 3 and the oldest foster child was 12. Now we revisit them periodically with the audiobooks. Lynn Redgrave does an amazing job, as does Derek Jacobi, narrator of The Dawn Treader. Every child and adult should read the series, or at least the core books about the Pevensies, at least once in their lives.

If nothing else, the introduction to Narnia may open the door to a life-long love of fantasy.


A Note on the Christian Aspects:
I probably should address the spiritual nature of the books. The author started the series with the question, "What if the Son of God chose to come to Earth as a lion instead of a man?" and then he wrote a story. So yes, everything C. S. Lewis believed about God and his salvation was a basis for these books. He purposely portrayed different aspects of his beliefs into the story. Many of the characters react as Lewis would himself, because of his religious convictions. The world-building rests on similar principles to actual Christianity. That offends some people. I still think you should read them.

Not that you asked for it, but here's more of my opinion. Every single book you read reflects the moral beliefs of the author, sometimes overtly, sometimes unintentionally.  Sometimes the author is wondering what would happen if. Sometimes the author wants to present multiple sides of an issue. Many times books purposely question the validity of religious or moral views. In every case, the author has an opinion. In every case, the author has to decide his agenda: Throw uncertainty on an issue? Dissuade the reader from a previous belief? Present multiple options as valid? Highlight an area of ambiguity in the author's mind and leave it open to the reader to decide?
Let's stop pretending books are somehow morally ambiguous. And please let's drop the pretense of separation of church and state. If you want everyone's views to be represented, then you shouldn't reject a book because it presents a religious point of view.

OK. Got a lot to say on these issues but let's move on to...


Bonus: 
1. A timeline of the creation of the Chronicles of Narnia.
2. I reviewed the movie version last Friday on the Summer Drive-In.
3. More gorgeous covers

Art by Steve Lavis

Art by Chris Van Allsburg

Art by Leo and Diane Dillon

Anyone know the cover artist?

Art by Pauline Baynes

4. For more C. S. Lewis:
Check out the Hopeful Heroine's review of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,
G. S. Prendergast's review of The Silver Chair,
AshyGirl15's review of The Magician's Nephew,
an overview of The Chronicles of Narnia as a series on Carstairs Considers,
and reviews of The Magician's Nephew, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Horse and His Boy, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle by Michelle Isenhoff

5. Other MMGM bloggers recommend The Books of Elsewhere, by Jaqueline West, Illustrated by Poly Bernatene, and the Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling, illustrated by Mary GrandPre. The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper. The High King and The Foundling and Other Tales, by Lloyd Alexander. I would wholeheartedly add the entire Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander.


Reviewed by 
the Hopeful Heroine

Reviewed by
Laurisa White Reyes

Reviewed by Kim at Dead Houseplants

Prydain, Book 1
Overview here

Prydain short stories
Reviewed by Michelle

Check out all the recommended titles for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for August 7, 2017 available on Shannon Messenger's Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe.

Feel free to leave your MG recommendations in the comments. Thanks!

MMGM: Dealing With Dragons

Welcome to my first review for

Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays.

MMGM started way back in 2010 by Shannon Messenger, author of Keeper of Lost Cities. Each week, participating bloggers review our favorite books for ages 8-12. Why not join us by blogging about your favorites?

If you're looking for my weekly bookish quote and bookplate, they've permanently moved to Wednesdays.


Today's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday pick

Dealing With Dragons,
Enchanted Forest Chronicles, book # 1,
First edition cover by Trina Schart Hyman

Dealing With Dragons


Written by Patricia C. Wrede
HMH Books for Young Readers,
originally Harcourt Childrens Books, 1990
Ages 10 and up
240 pages,51000 words


Themes:
Fantasy, Humor, Challenging Assumptions


Opening:
       Linderwall was a large kingdom, just east of the Mountains of Morning, where philosophers were highly respected and the number five was fashionable. The knights kept their armor brightly polished mainly for show —it had been centuries since a dragon had come east. There were the usual periodic problems with royal children and uninvited fairy godmothers, but they were always the sort of thing that could be cleared up by finding the proper prince or princess to marry the unfortunate child a few years later. All in all, Linderwall was a very prosperous and pleasant place.
       Cimorene hated it.


Thoughts:
In Dealing With Dragons, author Patricia Wrede  challenges the reader to look at traditional fairy tale tropes in a new light. Her book is fun, funny, and thought-provoking as it follows the adventures of Cimorene.

Princess Cimorene is practical, witty, and resourceful, anything but a typical princess. She feels constrained by the expectations of her society and frustrated by the machinations of others. As she fights against stereotypes, she forges a new path for herself, one of her own choosing, despite limiting circumstances. She is a strong character who dares the reader to examine her own beliefs and design her own destiny.

Wrede's humor is clever. She sprinkles the story with anachronistic references and peppers it with hilarious explanations for fairy tale behaviors. Today, the market is littered with twisted fairy tales, but few have the charm or freshness of Patricia's original style.


Bonus: 
 1. If you enjoyed Dealing With Dragons, don't miss the other books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Or travel to an alternate history in Patricia's Thirteenth Child, a mix of magic on the American frontier.

2. You might also like A Hidden Magic, by Vivian Vande Velde, a similar tongue-in-cheek remix which features another cover by illustrator Trina Schart Hyman.



Thirteenth Child,
Frontier Magic book #1,
by Patricia Wrede

A Hidden Magic,
by Vivian Vande Velde

3. Plus, I'm giving away a used copy of Calling on Dragons or The Fairy Tale Life of Hans Christian Andersen, your choice. You can enter to win by tweeting a link to this post using the hashtag #MGLit. If you don't have a twitter account, you can leave a comment below.

Win a copy of Patricia's
Calling on Dragons
OR

This book by Eva Moore,
art by Trina Schart Hyman

A Winner will be drawn and notified September 19. Thanks for reading, and good luck.

4. Check out all the recommended titles for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
for Monday, September 12, 2016 available on Shannon Messenger's blog. 

If you want to join MMGM, blog about a middle grade book you love on a Monday. You can post a straight review or contests, author interviews, etc. Then email Shannon Messenger at SWMessenger@hotmail.com

Put "MMGM" or "Marvelous Middle Grade Monday" in the subject line, include the title of the book you're featuring, and a link to your blog. Email your link by Sunday evening in order to be included in the list of links for the coming Monday.

For additional details, see Shannon's website.

What We Might Be

"If fantasy speaks to us as we are, it also speaks to us as we might be.”
~Lloyd Alexander*

Bookplate of a musician by Louis John Rhead

*Via Beth Cato

The Purpose of Fantasy

“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”

~Lloyd Alexander*

Bales bookplate

*Via Beth Cato

Illustrator Kim Kincaid

You are going to love today's Fresh Talent Feature!

Autumn, by Kim Kincaid

Clary, from City of Bones,by Cassandra Clare
Artwork courtesy Kim Kincaid

Kim Kincaid describes herself as "an aspiring artist."  Her style clearly shines through in her fantasy work.  When she applies that style to kidlit subjects, I would describe her as "inspiring" rather than "aspiring."

Don't forget to tour the Twirling Dragon for instructive peeks into her creative process.  Kim, best wishes on all you aspire to.

Erin Kelso

Unfair Advantage
By Bluefooted on Deviant art

Today we are featuring the mysterious Erin Kelso, AKA Bluefooted.  Erin is not a fantasy or children's illustrator by profession.

From what I can learn, Erin works in pencil or ink, and then adds digital color.  Her style does vary, but as she seems to create just to please herself, that can hardly be counted against her.  Unfair Advantage caught my eye because it is reminiscent of Charles Mikolaycak's style, while Huntress is more typical of her fantasy pieces.

I consider Erin's work an inspiration because she is largely self-taught and because her paintings express passion.  Her art reminds us, who illustrate for profit as well as pleasure, to enjoy the process.  To bless God that we can do what we love.

Huntress,
by Bluefooted on Deviant Art

I recommend you look up pieces like Cat-Skin or The Deep on Deviant Art.  I found her on Pinterest.  Thanks to Lines and Colors and Daily Picks and Flicks, who both share my interest in Bluefooted's illustrations.

Terry Brooks, Lessons

Just a quick post to follow up on Monday's quote.  Fantasy readers are probably familiar with author Terry Brooks whom I will highly recommend to our older readers.  But to all aspiring authors, make time to read Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life.




I found ample quotes and advice.  Besides, sometimes it's just enjoyable to read about someone who loves words as much as you do.  Follow Brooks's Cinderella career and be inspired.




And if you haven't read them yet, try the books below:

The Sword of Shannara,
by Terry Brooks,
published in 1977

Magic Kingdom For Sale, Sold!
by Terry Brooks,
published 1986

Attention Adult Harry Potter Fans

Little Brown has just announced details of J. K. Rowling's new adult novel due later this year.  According to Hachette Book Group, the new dark comedy,  The Casual Vacancy is due September 27, 2012.  This news follows the announcement Rowling would be signing with a new publisher back in February.  We look forward to more great characterizations and a bewitching sense of place. (Pun intended.)

We wish her much success, and hope afterwards that she will grace us with another venture into the world of YA.

J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series and . . .

The Chronicles of Prydain

The Chronicles of Prydain consists of five major books written by Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt in the 1960s.  These award winning fantasy novels are among the finest in children's literature and have enjoyed a loyal following throughout the world since they were first published.  They are a melding of Welsh mythology and Alexander's own fertile imagination.
 

Map copyright Michal Wojcik



The Chronicles of Prydain, Book 1,
Cover art by David Wyatt

The Book of Three is the first in the series and follows 

the adventures of Taran, an assistant pig-keeper who

 wishes to become a warrior.

The other books in the series are The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King.

I also highly recommend The Foundling and Other 

Tales of Prydain, a compilation of short stories.





The Prydain Companion,
An excellent reference,
by Michael O. Tunnell

For insights into the the creation of the books, cast of characters, geneologies, place descriptions, and guides to pronunciation, check out Michael O. Tunnel's excellent book, The Prydain Companion.

Lloyd Alexander, Prince of Authors

portrait by Trina Hyman

I am embarrassed to say I have not posted a single spotlight on Lloyd Alexander.  It would be impossible to have a serious discussion about great children's literature and not refer to the work of Lloyd Alexander.  To make up for my gross oversight, I will dedicate the rest of this week's blog posts to the man and his works.

Mr. Alexander is best known for his creation of the fantasy series, The Chronicles of Prydain.  He wrote over 40 books and stories and was a master of characterization and dialogue.  He used fiction to explore real emotional themes.  He loved reading, writing, cats, the violin, and his wife Janine.  He was witty and soft-spoken.  A bard of the highest caliber.
I highly recommend this video link with a tour narrated by the man himself.

For more information, check out Foundation Stones of Prydain, The Prydain Companion, and The Gawgon and the Boy.