Storm Makers by Jennifer E. Smith
384 pgs.
Target audence: 8-12
Rating: Wizard

Twins, Simon and Ruby, don't know it yet but they have the ability to manipulate weather. Their parents move the family to a farm in the middle of nowhere so their mom can focus on painting and their dad can work on his many inventions. Things start to get interesting when a stranger mysteriously appears in the barn with an ominous message for the twins. The weather goes haywire with sudden gusts of wind and rainstorms, tornado warnings and the worst drought in a hundred years. They learn that there is  secret society of Storm Makers, people who contrl and tame the weather, and that Simon is one of them and needs training. Who knew right? Well, that's not the end of it. Naturally there's a rogue Storm Maker bent on using Simon's budding powers to punish humans for not respecting nature. Simon, Ruby and their new found Storm Maker friends race against time and truly horrific weather conditions to save the world. This was a fun, fast paced book with strong, believable characters. Recommend to fans of Savvy by Ingrid Law.

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The Humming Room by Ellen Potter
192 pgs.
Target audience: Age 8-12
Rating: Wizard

I absolutely loved this book. One of my favorite books growing up was The Secret Garden, so since this is an homage to that classic, I naturally I had to read it. Roo, orphaned when her parents are murdered, is packed off to live with an uncle in a mansion on the remote Cough Rock island. Her uncle stays away most of the time and Roo's only company is Miss Violet and Ms. Valentine who tells Roo all the hard and fast rules that MUST be obeyed. Roo is small and used to being alone. She loves to hide in small places and listen to the noises beneath the earth surface. The huge mansion, formerly a tuberculosis sanitarium, presents many mysteries ripe for her to solve. From the anguished cries of a young child to the strange humming noise reverberating through the very walls and secret boxes hidden in floorboards, Roo sets out to explore. She soon finds she has a cousin, Phillip, who remains sequestered in his sick room. She also becomes fascinated by a young boy who appears to just live in the wild, but turns out he is Sidh or fey. Roo befriends them both. But the biggest secret is discovered when she slides down the laundry shute only to land in what seems to be a long dead garden. Sound familiar? Together the three children work to revive the garden where other family secrets have been long buried. Even though Potter clearly brings elements directly from the original, she has created a singularly fresh tale. This book is shorter and more suspenseful with lovely gothic elements and a strong heroine. Highly recommended to middle grade readers.

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Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey
416 pgs.
Target audience: Young Adult
Rating: Dragon

This is an outstanding companion to Dragon's Keep although it can be enjoyed as a standalone book. The kingdom on Wilde Island, mourning its king and anxiously awaiting the return of the prince, is in the hands of the bloodthirsty and evil regent, Sackmoore. The fragile alliance between fairies, dragons and humans is strained. On one of the regent's witch hunts, Tess, who has the gift of firesight, is accused of witchery and is forced to flee with her two best friends, Poppy and Meg. They're offered shelter by a royal huntsman, Garth who is the younger prince in disguise. Tess soon discovers that her father is fey which explains her gift. The dragons play a larger role in the latter half of the story. The pace is slow at first but builds to an amazing climax keeping the reader riveted to the page. All the characters are fully drawn and come to life on the page.This is a must for epic fantasy lovers. There's romance, adventure, history, mythology and political intrigue all against a beautifully rendered medieval landscape. What more could you ask for?

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A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
416 pgs.
Target audence: Age 8-12
Rating: Wizard

As we all know the original tales of the Brothers Grimm are quite grim The author reminds the reader at frequent intervals during the narrative by asking if there are small children in the house and suggesting they go to bed before they read any further. Gidwitz weaves a web through some of the more obscure and bloody stories using Hansel and Gretel as the heroes in each one. Where most parents would be appalled at the gruesomeness, Gidwitz deftly embraces it with humor an snarky comments on the contents of the story which kids will love and adults will want to stay up into the wee hours to finish. I listened to this on audio and it had me completely engrossed. I love the Grimm fairytales and its nice to see them told in a way that doesn't sugarcoat. This book will generate interest in reading the original tales. The heart and soul of this book lies with the question, "Where are all the good parents?"

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   The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges (Katerina Trilogy volume 1)
400 pgs.
Target audience: Young adult
Rating: Wizard

I just loved this book. It's the late 1800's in imperial Russia. Young Katerina has the gift, or curse as she sees it, of necromancy. She desperately tries to keep it a secret. However the pressure to get married, her desire to become a doctor and her curse activating without her knowledge, derail her. At first the necromancer aspect made me pause in picking it up but the ick factor is minimum. It has it all: romance, political intrigue, and of course magic. Yes, there is an enormous number of characters but that's very common of fantasy books and especially historical ones. This is what flavors the story and shows what that time period is like. Don't let it ruin the experience. Just focus on the main characters and filter out the rest. Then sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. It was so much fun!

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Well I'm back from the beach and had a great time. I really enjoyed presenting at OASL. Here are some titles I booktalked.

 Gregor the Overlander Series by Suzanne Collins
There are five in all: 1. Gregor the Overlander; 2. Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane; 3. Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods; 4. Gregor and the Marks of Secret an 5. Gregor and the Code of Claw.

Suzanne has created a world so delightfully imaginative and characters so real and developed that you feel like you know them. Gregor lives in NYC with his mom, older sister Lizzie and his two year old sister, Boots. Their father vanished the year beforewithout a trace. Life isn't easy for them, but they get by with a little help from their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Cormaci. One day while doing laundry, Gregor and Boots fall through a hole behind the dryer. They end up in the Underland, a world miles beneath NYC populated by giant rats, cockroachs, bats, spiders and a pale, violet-eyed race of humans. The prophecies of their ancestor, Sandwich, underline each story in which an Overlander warrior  plays a role. Although the prophecies are quite cryptic, it is generally believed that Gregor is indeed this warrior. Gregor and Boots and eventually his whole family become mired in Underland politics. The fate of Regalia, the main city of the humans, and indeed the many species of the Underland depend on Gregor's actions. To be sure there is no lack of adventure in this series including underground caves full of unfriendly giant spiders, sea monsters, quicksand, jungles of carnivorous plants, not to mention the impnding war with the rats. The stories are humorous, heartfelt at times and even have a bit of romance for our intrepid warrior. I also love that each Underland species is defined by their main function: rats=gnawers; cockroaches=crawlers; bats=flyers; spiders=spinners; moles=diggers; and fireflies=shiners with names like Photos Glow Glow and Zap. This is an amazing book on audio, in fact I cannot even imagine a better way to enjoy them.

Dragonkeeper Series by Kate Klimo

The series begins with Dragon in a Sock Drawer and introduces Jesse an Daisy who find what they think is a rock or thunderegg but ends up hatching a very real dragon, a beautiful green one which they name Emerald, Emmy for short. They have no clue how to care for a dragon. They're teenagers so what do they do? They go to the internet and find a website, foundadragon.com run by a man who gives them loads of dragon advice and warns them against the ultimate dragon foe, Saint George, a professor who's out to gain immortality through the use of dragon's blood. Emmy is a very smart and extremely bored dragon living in a big barn. Her only entertainment is the magazines Daisy passes on to her like Teen Vogue, Teen Cosmo. So here you have a teen dragon who takes cosmo quizzes and knows more about hollywood than your average teenager an who starts exhibiting alarmingly undragonlike teen characteristics. The only way she can come out and be with her keepers is to change into a sheepdog which she does regularly. They face a new threat from St. George in each volume, discover the magical library in the third and in the fourth Emmy becomes homesick for other dragons and runs away. The books are easy to read and would be excellent for beginning fantasy readers.

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Dragons Who Read Update:
I'm getting ready to present at OASL (Oregon Association for School Libraries) on October 15th in Seaside, OR. The presentation is titled "The magical lure of youth fantasy literature." This time I'll be getting pictures so I can post parts on my blog. I'll get them up as soon as I can.

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