Book Review: The Children of the King, by Sonya Hartnett (Candlewick, 2014)

 

Recommended for ages 9-12.

Release date:  March 25, 2014

Award-winning Australian author Sonya Hartnett returns to World War II in her latest historical novel for middle grade readers.  The Children of the King blends a paranormal ghost story with historical fiction;  it takes place in England at the beginning of the Second World War, and the novel begins with the young and somewhat spoiled Cecily and her older brother Jemmy moving from their comfortable upper-class existence in London to the equally comfortable country home of their uncle, to be safe from bombs that are expected to soon begin falling on London. Their father, who appears to be someone important to the war effort, is left behind in London.  Unlike other child evacuees, they are fortunate to be with their mother while other evacuees are taken in by total strangers. Cecily begs her mother for them to take in an evacuee too, and she chooses a young girl close to her own age named May.  Cecily expects the younger May to be her little pet, obeying her in everything.  

May, however, has a mind of her own, and soon is off exploring the countryside, where she discovers the ruins of an old castle. The castle is inhabited by two young brothers, dressed in fancy, old-fashioned clothes--are they evacuees who have run away from their new home? Or could they be something more amazing--and be somehow connected with the story that Uncle Peregrine tells them (and the reader) in bits and pieces?  This story is the history of Richard III and the nephews he imprisoned in the Tower of London.  The young princes' story is interwoven with that of the three modern children, all of whom are coping with the war in their own way.  Hartnett does not spare the reader from some very vivid descriptions of the London bombings, which are contrasted with the peaceful existence in the countryside.  

This is a beautiful and touching war story, with a ghost story woven in for good measure.  As you might expect, the two stories intersect in a magical way toward the end of the novel (no spoilers). An afterword with some more information about the young princes in the tower and the London Blitz might have been a good addition, to provide some historical facts and context to go with the uncle's tales.

Blog Tour and Book Review: Haunting Violet, by Alyxandra Harvey (Bloomsbury, 2011)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

I'm delighted to participate in the blog tour for Alyxandra Harvey’s new novel, Haunting Violet, set in Victorian England. It's a deliciously frightening paranormal historical fantasy just right for summer reading.  Alyxandra is also the author of The Drake Chronicles, a popular vampire series whose fourth volume is due out in November.

In Haunting Violet, our young heroine, Violet Willoughby, has been forced for years to help out in the “family business”--her stunningly beautiful mother puts on fake seances for bereaved parents, husbands and wives to contact loved ones in the beyond.  Their fortunes are picking up, and they’ve been invited to Rosefield, the luxurious country estate of Lord Jasper, a wealthy and influential earl with a strong interest in spiritualism.  Violet is looking forward to visiting with her friend Elizabeth, Lord Jasper’s goddaughter, while Violet’s mother hopes to finalize a possible match between her daughter and Xavier, a kind, handsome, and wealthy young man who’s also attending the country gathering.  But Violet is much more attracted to the unsuitable Colin, an Irish lad who is her mother’s assistant, and whose kisses make her feel “devoured, delicious, decadent..”  

Violet doesn’t believe in ghosts--how could she after her exposure to all the tricks of her mother’s medium trade?  So no one is more astonished than Violet when, at the first of her mother’s seances at Lord Jasper’s estate, she sees a girl in the shadows, dripping water.  Here’s Harvey’s creepy description of Violet’s first ghost sighting:

“She met my eyes and it was as if winter blew through the parlor.  When she opened her mouth, the sound was muffled and high-pitched, like nothing I had ever heard before.  She walked toward me, suddenly close enough that the hem of my skirt drew damp and cold.  I cringed back in my chair, looking around wildly...sweat pooled under my arm.”  

What is the ghost doing there?  It turns out she’s Rowena, who drowned the previous year--or was she murdered?  She’s desperately trying to warn her twin sister Tabitha of the danger of meeting the same fate, even using a “spirit board” to spell out messages to avert impending doom.  And there’s more ghosts who appear to Violet as well; at Lord Jasper’s ball they’re all over the ballroom, but only Violet can see them, and feel them rushing at her with their spirit hands.  Harvey’s descriptions of ghostly activity are sure to send a chill down the spine of her teen readers.  Will Violet be able to help Tabitha escape her fate, and solve the mystery of her sister’s drowning?  And what will her own future hold?


Harvey imbues this romantic tale with a mystery, romance, and above all, a wry sense of humor; Violet is particularly aware of the irony of her ridiculous situation:  “The real problem was that I didn’t actually believe in ghosts.  But they clearly believed in me.”  They should have the decency to stay dead, she quips at one point.  The reader has the distinct impression that Harvey, and her heroine, are winking at us through the pages!

Readers who enjoy this novel might also want to read Laura Amy Schlitz’s A Drowned Maiden’s Hair, another gothic tale which also revolves around a young girl caught up in the schemes of fake mediums, this time in early 20th century New England.  

Book Review: The Revenant, by Sonia Gensler (Alfred A. Knopf Books, 2011)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

With The Revenant, which hits bookstores this week, debut author Sonia Gensler has crafted a historical fiction/paranormal romance page turner perfect for summer reading. Our heroine is seventeen year old Willie--a self-described liar and a cheat. Desperate to avoid having to return home to help her mother take care of her half-brothers, she fakes educational credentials to get hired as an English teacher at the Cherokee Female Seminary in Indian Territory.

It’s 1896, and Willie doesn’t know what to expect from her new position, but she certainly doesn’t expect to find a her pupils are mostly mixed-race, upper-class young Cherokee ladies who are much more sophisticated and privileged than she is. Nor does she expect the school to be shrouded in mystery--one of their students had supposedly drowned and now her classmates believe that the young girl’s spirit haunts Willie’s room. Willie doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she can’t explain the peculiar noises and the strange events happening at school. Could it be a revenant--one who returns from the dead?

She also doesn’t know what to make of her attraction to a handsome, charming young man, Eli Sevenstar, who’s a student at the nearby Cherokee academy for boys. Romance between an instructor and a student is surely prohibited, not to mention a romance with a native. But in the meantime Willie has to figure out how to grade all the English assignments she has given out, organize the students in a Shakespeare play, and solve a murder mystery--a hefty load for any proper young lady. Can she survive long enough to figure out her own destiny?

This book offers plenty of suspense and entertainment for fans of ghost stories, mysteries and the paranormal, with a good dose of history in the mix as well. My favorite element of the book was definitely the detailed historical setting. While I was familiar with the outlines of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, when the tribe was forced to move from Georgia to what is now Oklahoma, I was unfamiliar with the existence of a small group of wealthy Cherokees who signed a treaty with the Jackson administration and moved voluntarily to what was then Indian territory. An author’s note describes Gensler’s extensive research with primary sources at the Oklahoma Historical Society and Northeastern State University’s archives. This research provided accurate historical background, including depicting the tension on campus between Cherokee students of different economic classes. The main characters are highly appealing, and teens will enjoy the bit of forbidden romance as well.

Gensler’s website provides links to further information on the real Cherokee Female Seminary, which was staffed by graduates of Mount Holyoke and other Eastern colleges.




Disclosure: ARC provided by publisher.

Book Review and Giveaway: Timeless, by Alexandra Monir (Delacorte, 2011)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Teens still seem to be devouring paranormal romances, and here's one without any vampires or werewolves but chock full of romantic star-crossed lovers that seems sure to be a hit with teen girls who enjoy books of this genre.  Alexandra Monir, a 25-year old debut novelist who is a professional singer-songwriter, has made use of her songwriting talents as well by weaving original music into the story, which can be purchased as an album (also called Timeless).

Michele Windsor is a happy, popular teenager living with her mother in Los Angeles--except that, since she was a little girl, she has recurring dreams about a mysterious handsome stranger "with eyes the color of sapphires...dressed like none of the other boys she knew." When a tragic accident forces her to move to New York to live with her wealthy, upper-crust society grandparents whom she has never met, she is dazzled at first by their enormous historic mansion, which she has a strange feeling she has seen before.  While the servants are kind, her grandparents are formal and reserved.

She is trying to cope with her mother's death and her new life when she finds a mysterious antique key left by her father to her mother, a key that allows her to travel back in time--to 1910 New York.  Somehow we are not too surprised to find that, while in 1910, she meets at a masquerade ball the handsome stranger of her dreams--Philip, the love of her life.  But as Michele goes back and forth from the present to the past, trying to juggle both her lives, she realizes that although she and Philip belong together, they can never actually be together, since neither can fully exist in the other's time.  Their love seems doomed--can she alter the past and save him before it's too late?

The star-crossed lovers theme of this novel is perennially popular, and the aching romanticism of the story should appeal greatly to teen readers and keep them turning the pages.  Teens will also appreciate the integral role that music as well as romance plays in this novel; our hero, Philip, is a gifted musician, but being a musician as a profession does not fit into his upper-crust family's career plans for him.  Michele, our heroine, writes music as well, and the two are soon collaborating on songs across the century, as she writes lyrics to his music. And you can purchase these songs on-line so the reader doesn't just have to imagine them in her head.

Alexandra Monir spent a year in New York researching and writing this novel, and does a credible job recreating the high society world of the Gilded Age.  Brief portions of the novel also take place in the Roaring Twenties and during World War II.  In an afterword, she cites some of the books used in her research, as well as sights of New York to visit for readers interested in these periods.  She also recommends visiting Newport, where many mansions from this period survive and are open to tours.

Timeless was named an Amazon Best Book of the Month for January 2011, and Monir is already at work on a sequel.

Alexandra's Timeless album cover art

You can find an interview with Alexandra about her book at Ramblings of a Teenage Bookworm.

Giveaway:  To win a copy of this book for yourself or your library, please leave a comment with your e-mail and let me know what time period you'd like to travel to if you could travel back in time!  Winner will be selected at random on April 13, 2011.


Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Time Travel Book Review: Warped, by Maurissa Guibord (Delacorte, 2011)

Debut author Maurissa Guibord's time travel novel has lots of elements likely to appeal to her target teen readers:  a gorgeous cover, plenty of romance, adventure, danger, humor, suspense, an evil witch, a handsome nobleman, a unicorn, dragon, giant snake, a quaint bookshop setting--and oh yes, time travel!  Well, I never said "realism" was one of the elements!

The story centers on Tessa, a "normal" teenage girl who discovers there's something weird about an old unicorn tapestry her bookseller father bought at an auction, mixed up in a box of old books.  The unicorn looks fierce, not like the cuddly rainbow ones of her girlhood, and when she's near it, she begins to have strange dreams of a hunt in a long-ago forest in a distant land.  But when she accidentally pulls a thread on the tapestry, a handsome young man appears--William de Chaucy--who's been under the enchantment of an evil witch for more than five centuries.  Their destinies are somehow linked together--and mixed up with the Fates, the three sisters who control the life threads of all humans.  Tessa must somehow return some missing threads--but can she do it and keep the irresistible William alive in the 21st century?

Teens who enjoy historical fantasy are likely to devour this juicy and fun read, which will answer many important questions, such as the following:  do charmingly arrogant 15th century noblemen like pizza?  You'll have to read this to get the answer, and to discover the many twists and turns in the book's plot.


Other blog reviews include:
A Backwards Story
Dreaming in Books
Life after Twilight
Teen Book Fanatics
The Allure of Books
Frenzy of Noise
Muggleborn.net
Young Adults Book Central

Disclosure:   Review copy provided by publisher

Book Review: The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall, by Mary Downing Hahn (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010)

Recommended for ages 8-12.
Mary Downing Hahn, best known for her scary  ghost stories for young people, will be sure to please her many fans with her newest creepy tale, The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall, which will be released in September.  


In this new novel, set in 19th century England, we meet ten-year old Florence Crutchfield, who has been living in a London orphanage since her parents died when she was five and no relatives came forward to claim her.  But, surprise!  After five years a great uncle surfaces, who invites her to live with him, his unmarried sister, Eugenie, and her cousin James.  In classic gothic tale fashion, Eugenie arrives at Crutchfield Hall after being soaked by a violent rainstorm.  Eugenie's first impression of the house is not a positive one:

Below me was a gloomy stone house, grim and unwelcoming, its windows dark and lifeless...a writer like Miss Emily Bronte would have been entranced by its Gothic appearance, but I hung back again, suddenly apprehensive of what might await me behind those towering walls.

Although her uncle is kind to her, her aunt takes an immediate dislike to Florence, who bears an unfortunate resemblance to her cousin Sophia, who died in a mysterious accident some time before.   With a nod and a wink to The Secret Garden, we learn that Florence's cousin James is so sickly that he never leaves his room, and Florence is forbidden to visit him.  


All is not well in Crutchfield Hall, and before Florence is even there for a day, she has a strange sensation that someone is watching her.  "A chill raced up and down my spine, and my scalp prickled."  Although her uncle insists that ghosts do not exist, Florence becomes more and more convinced that Crutchfield Hall haunted by the ghost of her cousin Sophia. And what does the ghost want from Florence?  


Florence soon discovers that Sophia is not the ideal child her aunt recreates, but rather an evil spirit who wants someone else to die in her place!  Can she bend Florence to her will, and force her to help her in her devious plans?


It is easy to see after reading this story why Mary Downing Hahn's books have sold over 2 million copies and have received more than forty child-voted state awards.  She manages to create a spine-tingling atmosphere without the novel becoming too frightening for the 8-12 year old crowd.  And you have to love the deliciously macabre cover, of a photograph of two young children (James and Sophia, we assume) in Victorian garb, with Sophia's face obscured by a splash of blood.  While ghost stories are not personally a favorite genre of mine, scary stories are perennially popular with kids, and this quick read is perfect for reluctant readers as well as fans of ghost stories.  


Release date:  September 2010

Book Review: Picture the Dead, by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown (Sourcebooks, 2010)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown have written a unique illustrated young adult novel that is difficult to categorize. It's carefully researched historical fiction but also a ghost story and a mystery with graphic novel elements as well. With illustrations that mimic the look of a Civil War scrapbook kept by our heroine, our story is told in the first person by orphan Jennie Lovell, who together with her twin brother has been raised for the last four years by her aunt and uncle alongside their two sons, Will and Quinn. Before the novel opens, Jennie and Will have fallen in love and become engaged.

Jennie's girlish dreams of happiness vanish as all three young men in the household go off to fight for the Union cause. First her brother dies of disease (which killed many more soldiers than did the battles themselves), then her cousin Quinn staggers home with a terrible wound to his face and the news that her fiance, Will, has died in combat. Or has he?

Jennie soon realizes that Quinn has a secret he's not telling--"and the dead cannot defend themselves." With the death of her fiance, Jennie has no status in the household. She writes:

I am sixteen years old, nearly grown, my school days finished, my fiance dead on the battlefield, my future as valuable as a wooden nickel.

She tries to make herself useful as a nurse to Quinn, and helps with various household tasks, becoming more like a servant than a member of the family.

But when her uncle asks Jennie to contact a photographer who also has a reputation as a medium, strange things begin to happen. Is Will trying to communicate with her from the grave, or is the spirit photographer playing tricks on her? How can she explain the mysterious events that lead her to discover a lost locket, Will's last letter, and perhaps the secret as to how Will really died--not on the battlefield at all, but as a prisoner at the infamous Andersonville prison camp?

There is certainly no shortage of novels for young people about this period, but Picture the Dead, with its genre-bending story, makes an important contribution to Civil War novels and would be an excellent purchase for school or public libraries, as well as for any reader who enjoys a good mystery and ghost story.

What is unique about this book is the way the author/illustrator integrate both spiritualism and photography into their tale, both of which played a critical role in this time period. Spiritualism, or the belief that the living can communicate with the dead through mediums, attracted enormous numbers of followers during this time period, capitalizing on the millions who grieved for loved ones lost during the war. Photography, too, was tremendously important at the time; the Civil War was the first major combat to be widely photographed, with teams of photographers sent out to cover the action. Because of the unwieldy equipment, photographers could depict only camp scenes, preparations for or retreat from action, or the horrifying aftermath of battle.

In this novel, the many illustrations are integral to the story, even providing clues to the mystery; Brown based her images on Civil War-era photographs from the Library of Congress. Here's an example: In fact, the models for the different characters are one of the many topics that can be explored on the book's terrific website, which also includes lots of additional information about the Civil War, the authors, photography during the period, and more, as well as useful links to other informational sites.

An interview with Lisa Brown about Picture The Dead can be found here:

To read the first chapter of this book, click here.