Another gift from the RMFW conference. This was well written and engaging. I enjoyed Ms. Bell’s Goblin War piece more, but I suspect that has less to do with the books themselves and more to do with my own preference for straight up fantasy than for Native-American-religion-tinged urban stuff. I also tend to get turned off by preachiness of any variety, and the environmental message here bordered on that a few times–not enough to make me dislike the book, but enough that I noticed it. Still, well worth the reading.
Tag: young adult
An Acceptable Time
A nice enough story about Polly, one of Meg and Calvin’s kids, but it doesn’t have quite the magic of A Wrinkle in Time or the other books in that series. I’m not entirely sure what makes the difference. It might be that the science is more fantasy than science. It might be that the world-building relies a bit too much on the reader having read the other books–I didn’t feel as fully immersed in the story here.
However, if I weren’t comparing it to the amazing experience of Wrinkle, this book would do quite well. It’s well written, with great characters and complex problems that come to a satisfying, not too simplistic, resolution. A good book. Not, perhaps, one I’ll keep coming back to, but one I’m glad I read.
Writing Stories
This slim little volume packs a lot of good advice, and it contains a fair few writing exercises that would seem like good ways to get going on a story if I didn’t have a plethora of stories I’m already going on.
It focuses a bit too much on journaling (an occupation that I’ve never found productive), and on getting ideas (a part of writing I’ve never had problems with), and it’s a touch too patronizing (as if the author doesn’t realize that young people are even more sensitive to that kind of thing than older ones. As a writer for young people, doesn’t he know better?)
Still, there’s lots of good solid stuff on how to make memories into more; how to show not tell, and how to do the important stuff, like characters and setting and plot, well. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as a good starting place for someone who wants to get into story-writing. Especially if they do have trouble coming up with ideas.
The Goblin War
As I’ve probably mentioned before, one of the great things about RMFW conferences is the number of books we get in the swag bag. I love, love, love going home with enough to keep me busy–for a bit anyway.
The Goblin War is one of these. I certainly never would have picked up only book three of a series if I’d been choosing the book myself.
All the same, I wasn’t too lost when I got dropped into the middle of a story that follows trio of young people and their goblin friends as they tramp through a couple of connected worlds, restoring balance and justice. In fact, I was interested enough that I’ll probably try to track down the first couple of books, so I can get a better idea of the whole picture.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
I thoroughly enjoyed this, though I must admit I found it less satisfying than the original seven. The story line is great; it’s lovely to get to know some of these characters as adults, and I’m interested all the way through. However, I miss the inimitable style (and punny humor) of the originals, to say nothing of the rich descriptions. I dare say that like most scripts, it’s better seen than read. Even as it stands, however, the book is well worth the fairly short time it takes to read.
Signs of You
I pre-ordered this book months ago when I first heard it was coming out in part because I’ve met Emily France, and she’s lovely, but mostly because I had seen or heard just a bit of the story at some RMFW event and was longing to read the rest.
It does not disappoint. Riley and her three best friends are vividly drawn, complex people, all of them sympathetic, all of them flawed. I find myself fascinated by the adventure they go on together to unravel the paranormal puzzle that is further tangling their already complicated lives, and I’m fully involved in the story right to the very end. The love story is sweet, and even the present tense doesn’t grate on me the way narrative present usually does–at least not after the first page or so.
Definitely a read I’d recommend. (But probably for kids a bit older than mine.)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
My kids and I have been reading through the Harry Potters together for several months, and have just finished number five. We started this set because the kids are getting pressure from classmates to read and discuss the books, but I don’t want my two reading them on their own yet. This is the compromise we came up with.
Reading these aloud, I notice things I didn’t when reading them to myself–unfortunate things like awkward dialogue tags and the overuse of adverbs. But the story is just as brilliant, the world just as rich, the characters just as complex and finely drawn, and the humor just as delightful. And the experience is more meaningful when I read with my kids.
I love the way we get to the end of a section and they beg for more. I love the conversations that get started around the dinner table about what good families are like and who to trust and how to make good choices and how the world isn’t divided into good people and Death Eaters–that evil can take many forms and faces, some of which initially appear to be good. I love the way the kids get inspired to create their own worlds as they emerge from this one.
I’ve always loved these books. I love them even more now that my family is experiencing them together.
Savvy
A fun little book by Ingrid Law. I enjoyed every minute–from meeting Mibs Beaumont and her unusual family, through the crisis that befalls them, through the swashbuckling adventure Mibs undertakes to try and solve the problem, all the way to the semi-sweet (my favorite kind) finish. This–right here–is why I love young adult literature. It’s so nice that my kids bring home plenteous quantities of it.