The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1) by Rick Riordan. October 6, 2015. Disney-Hyperion, 512 pages. Ages 10 and up.
Summary
Magnus Chase has been living on the streets, hiding in plain sight, every since his mother was killed 2 years ago trying to protect him. Before she died, she warned him not to trust his uncles, so instead of turning to his family after his mother's death, he chose to live among the homeless where he was befriended by Blitz and Hearth, who look out for him.
One day Blitz tells him people are looking for him, passing out flyers with his picture and name. Magnus goes to where they are, without revealing himself, and realizes that it is his uncle Frederick and his cousin Annabeth. Curious as to why they are looking for him now, after two years, Magnus decides to break into his uncle Randolph's house to try to figure out why the sudden interest in his whereabouts. Unfortunately, Randolph comes home and catches him, and tries to persuade him that he is in grave danger. Randolph reminds him that today is Magnus' 16th birthday, and says that "they" will be coming to kill him now that he is a man and that it has something to do with his father, who Magnus never knew. Randolph begins talking about Norse mythology, something he has long been obsessed with, and claims that Magnus' father was none other than Frey, a Norse god.
Randolph tells Magnus that he must retrieve the powerful sword that one belonged to his father, a sword Randolph believes sank on a Viking ship right there in Boston 1000 years earlier. The sword is very powerful and must not fall into the wrong hands, and that he, as Frey's son, has the power to summon it. Much to Magnus' surprise, he is actually able to summon the sword, but as soon as he does, he finds himself in a battle with an unknown enemy who can produce fire. Magnus fights valiantly, trying to save innocent bystanders from harm, but in the end Magnus dies.
And that is only the beginning!
My Thoughts
This is a very fast-paced, action-packed adventure/quest and fans of Riordan's other series should not be disappointed. Percy Jackson and the Olympians was based on Greek mythology, Heroes of Olympus was based on the corresponding Roman myths, The Kane Chronicles were rooted in Egyptian mythology, and now Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard introduces Norse mythology.
I liked the Percy Jackson books, but being something of a Greek/Roman mythology buff, the inaccuracies in the books always bugged me, whether they were from lack of research or artistic license, I'm not sure. However, being blissfully ignorant of Norse mythology, I was able to enjoy the story of The Sword of Summer without being distracted by such inaccuracies. While the story is primarily action and drama, it did have a lot of humor sprinkled throughout, often when revealing the gods' interest in and knowledge of human pop culture. It's been a while since I read Percy Jackson, but I don't remember it having quite as much humor.
I would recommend this obviously for fans of Riordan's other series, but also fans of Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, The Blackwell pages (all of which have to do with seemingly ordinary kids suddenly discovering they have unusual parentage and special powers), those with an interest in mythology, and readers looking for a fast-paced adventure story who don't mind a little fantasy.
The next book in the series, The Hammer of Thor, is due out in October of 2016.
Note: children of the 90's will likely note in the cover art that Magnus Chase bears an uncanny resemblance to Kurt Cobain. This resemblance is intentional and is referred to on more than one occasion in the book. And yes, his cousin Annabeth is the same Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series. She has a very small part in this book, but I suspect her role will be expanded as the series develops.
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar. August 4, 2015. Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 192 pages. Ages 10 and up.
Summary
To fifth-grader Tamaya, the rules seem to be changing, and she seems to be the only one who doesn't know what is socially acceptable anymore. Marshall, the 7th grade boy next door who walks with her to school is also having problems at school thanks to the new kid, and bully, Chad, who has targeted him for some reason and turned all his friends against him.
In order to avoid the fight Chad challenged him to, Marshall decides to cut through the woods. Tamaya doesn't want to go, but she is not supposed to walk home alone, so she reluctantly accompanies him. Soon, it become apparent that Marshall is lost, and to make matters worse, Chad has followed them. Chad begins beating Marshall, and Tamaya tries to defend her friend and grabs a handful of strange, fuzzy mud and throws it in Chad's face, allowing her and Marshall to escape, but not before Chad threatens both of them.
Later, Tamaya's hand begins to feel strange, and breaks out in a rash. By the next day, her hand is covered in bloody blisters, and the rash is spreading up her arm. She is certain it has something to do with the strange mud in the woods that she threw in Chad's face. Then, she is learns that Chad is missing and fears he could be in real danger from the mud and sets off to search for him, feeling responsible.
What will Chad do to her if she finds him? What is in the strange mud?
My Thoughts
I found the story to be fast-paced with main characters that many kids could relate to. It is part sci-fi mystery-thriller, but it also has an underlying theme about bullying and coming of age as it shows how both Marshall and Tamaya struggle to negotiate the ever-changing rules of the tween social structure and in the end explains what led to Chad's bad behavior and bullying. Of course, being a middle-grade novel, in the end the three of them become friends and all is forgiven.
Having read Sachar's Holes, Small Steps, and There's A Boy In The Girls' Bathroom, I expected this book to be more along those lines, realistic fiction with young male protagonists dealing with difficult situations, and was a little disappointed. Fuzzy Mud is fine for what it is, but I found it to be much more similar to R. L. Stine's Goosebumps series than the Sachar books I was familiar with (not having read the Wayside School books). This book would definitely appeal to Goosebumps fans. As it deals with the dangers of scientific research gone amok due to carelessness or arrogance, I would suggest readers who enjoy this might go on to enjoy some of Michael Crichton's works when they get older.
12-Year Old Son's Verdict
My son also read this book and said he really liked it and hoped Sachar would write more like it. He agreed with my assessment that it seemed very Goosebumps-esque, but a bit more realistic.
Today was a rough day. Not because it was too busy, not because customers were difficult, but because I had an oppressive headache all. day. long. It felt like a weight, dragging me down and making it difficult to focus, and of the course the harder I tried to concentrate, the worse the headache got. It was the kind of headache that also makes you feel sick at your stomach as well. I felt guilty I wasn't at 100% but I did my best.
It was actually kind of a strange day. I had no families come into the department for the first couple of hours, but quite a few, shall we say, eccentric adults. I had to call security twice to check out people that were hanging around and behaving like they might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or having a mental health issue. I tried to help one man find a ballet book for his niece, but we didn't have quite what he was looking for, so he asked me to recommend a bookstore and find him bus information to get there, which I was happy to do.
Then a woman came in who needed materials to help her with tutoring a teenager who was recovering from a stroke, and she was looking for some kind of test or assessment tool to help her determine where he was at to start with. Unfortunately, all I could find where things related to the GED, AP tests, and college entrance exams. She decided to try the GED practice tests and fortunately we had one study guide in, so I gave her the information and directed her to the appropriate floor, and also suggested she try the library for the College of Education at the local university. Fortunately, once she got upstairs, the associate that was working at that desk knew exactly what she was looking for, even though neither the patron nor I had been able to find anything in the catalog, or using Google. Without a title or author, it was hard coming up with just the right search terms to find it. I felt bad I hadn't been able to find it, but was very glad someone else knew just the right book for her. It was a series called Making The Grade, by the way.
We did have a little bit of excitement. We are renovating our staff room a little bit, in order to give us more workspace, and in the process of clearing stuff out one of the children's librarians discovered a tiny safe, bolted to the floor, hidden in the very back corner. It was only about 4"x8"x4" or so, and had been hidden by all the things piled around it for so long, there was not a single staff member left in the building who knew anything about it. Of course we were all intensely curious as to what it's purpose was and what might be inside it. Perhaps some long-forgotten petty cash? Important documents? A shrunken head?
At the manager's suggestion, they looked through the senior children's librarian's desk, where they found an assortment of miscellaneous keys. Soon, they found that one of them fit one of the locks on the safe, but we still needed a second key. So the search continued, and another set of keys was located. Lo and behold, one of them fit the top lock. The manager turned both keys, and....it opened! And inside it was.........
.......wait for it...........
...............wait for it.........
.................................another set of keys! Ha!
Very anti-climactic, reminiscent of Geraldo Rivera's embarassing docu-melodrama of the opening of Al Capone's [empty] vault. So much for our bit of mystery and intrigue ;) But at least it made the afternoon a little more interesting.
The Water And The Wild by K. E. Ormsbee, April 14, 2015. Chronicle Books, 448 pages. Ages 8-12.
Summary
Lottie Fiske is a young girl who has had a fairly solitary life. She was orphaned as a baby, and taken in by kindly Mr. Yates, who's untimely passing left her in the care of his not-so-kindly wife. Mrs. Yates was not cruel, but she was rather cold, brusque, and uncaring. Lottie never fit in with the other children on Kemble Isle and was often bullied. She found solace in her apple tree, and her only friend Elliot.
On her 6th birthday, she received a mysterious letter telling her about her parents, with a picture of them enclosed. On the back of the picture was written "If you should ever need anything, write back." She wrote back requesting hair ribbons, but had no address to send it to, so she stuck the note inside the apple tree. To her surprise, on her next birthday, she received the hair ribbon she had requested from "the letter-writer." This continued until her twelfth birthday, when Lottie made a much more serious request. Her only friend Elliot was very sick, and getting sicker, so Lottie asked for Elliot to be cured.
Six months later, however, she gets some very dire news. Elliot's condition has continued to worsen, and his doctor predicts that he had only 2 to 3 weeks left to live. As Lottie bikes home in the rain, she is nearly crushed by a falling tree, but is yanked out of the way at the last minute by a mysterious hero who leaves his mark on her arm. Then, when she gets home, she finds a strange girl named Adelaide in her room who claims to have been sent to bring her to Adelaide's father because she was in danger here. Adelaide leads her to her beloved apple tree, pulls down on one of the branches, and a door opens up! Then Lottie is whisked away through the apple tree on an amazing journey to a magical world full of sprites, will o'wisps, barghests, danger, and intrigue.
What does Lottie learn about herself and her parents? Will she be able to find a cure and get back in time to save Elliot? Why is the sprite king after her?
My Thoughts
My library was a little late getting this book, but I chose to read it because I found out the author happens to live in my town. It is a fast-paced story full of magic, mystery, and adventure. I think the author did a fairly good job creating a magical world of her own imaginations, re-inventing some familiar terms, such as sprite and will-o'-the-wisp and making up new magical creatures from her own imaginations. I think anyone who likes this genre will like this book as well.
I would recommend this for middle-grade (and up) readers who enjoy magical fantasy that is fast paced and not too dark. I think it might appeal in to fans of The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice In Wonderland, The Circus Mirandus, and readers who were fans of fairy stories, Peter Pan, etc., but are now ready for something longer and more complex. It might appeal to fans of Harry Potter, though the plot is considerable faster, or Percy Jackson, as they all deal with magic or special powers, and main characters who find out they are only half human and must negotiate a magical world they never knew existed.
I only have two criticisms of this book, (1) the title really isn't related to the story at all; I like titles that make sense and are more indicative of what the book is about, and (2) It didn't really have an ending, many issues in the magic world were left unresolved, and it wasn't really made clear if that was it, or if there is going to be a sequel.
Other Books By This Author
The Water And The Wild is K. E. Ormsbee's debut novel, with an un-titled sequel due out in Fall of 2016. A stand-along middle grade fantasy, The House In Poplar Wood is due out in 2017. Her first YA novel, Lucky Few, is expected to be published in Summer of 2016 by Simon & Schuster and is about a homeschooled teen confronting his anxiety about death.
Are You Still There by Sarah Lynn Scheerger. September 1, 2015. AW Teen, 288 pages. Teen & up.
Gabriella Mallory is a parent's dream: straight-A honor student, athlete, community volunteer, and too focused on school to deal with dating or drama. Until the drama finds her.
First, a bomb threat which was all too real and left her hiding in the bathroom in fear for her life, and afraid for her sister Chloe and best friend Beth. Fortunately, the bomb was safely disarmed and no one was hurt, but the bomb-maker is still out there somewhere.
In response to the bomb incident, a drug overdose the year before, and the suicide of a student before that, the school decides to set up a peer hotline, staffed anonymously by students. Gabi is asked to be one of these students, and is a little bit surprised when she meets the others and finds how diverse the group is, with representatives of nearly every social group in the school. Despite their differences, the group begins to bond and Gabi finds herself forming close friendships with some of the others, and even begins dating one of the volunteers, Miguel, who comes from a very different world than Gabi.
But the bomb-maker is still out there, leaving clues for the police. But then he/she begins to involve Gabi in his "game", leaving clues in her locker and calling the helpline and only talking to her; somehow knowing she is one of the staffers, even though she uses a pseudonym and it is all supposed to be anonymous. At first Gabi is frightened, but then she feels compelled to try to help the bomber before he hurts himself or anyone else. Will she figure out his plan and his identity in time?
My Thoughts
I found this to be a very compelling story, part who-dunnit and part anti-bullying statement, with a little romance and coming-of-age thrown in as Gabi starts to break out of her shell and figure out what SHE wants, rather than running on automatic and simply living up to everyone else's expectations of her. Gabi learns to move beyond her limited social circle and braves the dating game for the first time, having to re-negotiate her existing friendship and her relationships with her mother and sister, all the while trying to figure out who the bomber is and what his/her motives are before it's too late.
I loved the multi-faceted story and the fast-paced plot, and feel the book makes a strong statement about bullying without being too preachy, and makes points about breaking down boundaries between social groups and finding your own path in life as well. I also liked how journal entries by the bomber, written in free verse, were interspersed throughout the book, giving the reader a little firsthand insight into what he/she is thinking and feeling.
I think most teens and some tweens could relate to this story, seeing themselves and people they know among the characters, and it might make a great choice for a discussion group. I would suggest this book to all teens, but would especially recommend it for those who want realistic fiction with compelling stories about timely topics, and those with a particular interest in coming of age stories, psychological dramas, and stories dealing with bullying and school violence.
Other Books By This Author
The Opposite of Love, September 2014, is about a seemingly unlikely couple who have one thing in common, both coming from a troubled homelife , and also deals with serious teen issues most readers will be able to relate to.
She has also authored or co-authored several books for younger readers under the name "Sarah Lynn".
