Children’s Books: The Last of the Spirits by Chris Priestley

You remember that scene in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol where Scrooge asks about two children, a boy and a girl, huddling under the robes of the Ghost of Christmas Present? The Ghost tells him that the children are Ignorance and Want.

In The Last of the Spirits (Bloomsbury) they are real children, street kids who, in fact, sneaked into Scrooge’s home while he was off with the spirits and took refuge in his dining room, which is at least a little warmer than the streets. The story is told from the viewpoint of the boy, Sam and his sister Lizzie. They once had a home and parents, but their father died in debt and their mother soon after.

Sam is angry with the world, especially one Ebenezer Scrooge, who had snubbed them when they pleaded for a little money. So that night, when they are trying to sleep in the graveyard and run into the ghost of Jacob Marley, on his way to save Scrooge’s soul, they follow, with Sam thinking that a piece of lead piping applied to the old miser’s head might improve him greatly and get them some of the money he refused them the first time.

Sam, too, it seems, needs and benefits from visits from the three spirits...

This is a nice take on the original novella, with Scrooge’s story happening on the side, with the children watching and listening to bits and Sam being a little irritated with the Ghost of Christmas Present for using them as props in the show he is staging for Scrooge. It probably means more if you are familiar with the original story, but can be read by itself and, who knows, might encourage children to look for the original story once they’re old enough to follow it. ◊


Sue Bursztynski lives in Australia, where she works as a teacher-librarian. She has written several books for children and young adults, including Crime Time: Australians Behaving Badly and, most recently, the YA novel Wolfborn. Her blog The Great Raven can be found at http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.

Young Adult Fiction: The Caller by Juliet Marillier

Summer Gathering, when the rebels of Shadowfell are planning to challenge the evil King Keldec, is approaching rapidly. Caller Neryn, with whom we have made a long journey, still has two Guardians to go before her training is complete. But the White Lady, Guardian of air, is not in the best state. The Master of Shadows(fire) is a trickster who may or may not advise her on how to protect the rebels’ Good Folk allies from cold iron, which makes them sick and can kill them. Worse, Keldec now has his own Caller, who is less scrupulous about what he does to the Good Folk he calls. Neryn’s beloved Flint, the rebels’ double agent, known to his comrades as Owen Swift-Sword, is fed up with his life at court and what he's forced to do as an Enforcer, but has no choice. Can he trust his closest friends in the Enforcers or not? 

The story in Raven Flight (Knopf) has been built up over the last two books in this series. Here it comes to a dramatic climax. Neryn has to make some decisions she doesn’t necessarily like. At the same time, she meets people from the other side whom she can like and respect and even finds herself, at one point, pitying the king and wondering what he might have been like under other circumstances. 

You do tend to forget the heroine is only 16, especially in a world where that’s an age where you might easily be married, but I think that any teens who have read the other two books will be happy with this one. 

Don’t read this without having read the first two books, but if you haven’t, I do recommend this series. ◊

Sue Bursztynski lives in Australia, where she works as a teacher-librarian. She has written several books for children and young adults, including Crime Time: Australians Behaving Badly and the YA novel Wolfborn. Her blog The Great Raven can be found at http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.

Young Adult Fiction: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Cath Avery has just started university, living on campus. Her twin sister, Wren, has decided that after a lifetime of doing everything together, they will not be sharing a room; she’s keen to meet new people and have new experiences.

One thing they have always done together is write fan fiction (or fanfiction, as it’s called in this novel). Not just fanfiction, but slash fiction, the kind that has gay relationships between the two leading male characters. 

Cath is working on her magnum opus, Carry On Simon, a novel set in the World of Mages, a world not entirely unlike that of a certain boy wizard in our own universe (and actually, Harry Potter exists in the Fangirl universe too). It has to be finished before the final novel comes out in a few months, or it will be forever AU (alternative universe to all you mundanes out there). Cath has signed up for a unit in Fiction Writing, though, and has a ten thousand word major project to write as well, and the ideas just aren’t coming. Meanwhile, there’s all this stuff going on in Real Life: Nick the gorgeous guy in her writing class who writes everything in second person present tense and won’t let go of his notebook, even when they’re writing together. Reagan, her roommate, who smokes and goes out a lot, but who drags Cath out of her hiding place to take part in campus life. Levi, her boyfriend (or is he?) who has a sunny nature and suffers reading issues. Cath and Wren’s father, a loopy advertising man who eats frozen meals when he’s eating at all and needs to be checked up on. Stuff, you know?

First, a confession: I wanted to review Fangirl (MacMillan) because I know about fan fiction. I even know about slash fiction, though I don’t read it. But I did write fan fiction for many years, at least 150 stories, set in the universes of Star Trek, Blake’s 7, Robin Of Sherwood, Dr Who (one or two).  I stopped writing it when I ran out of ideas and then people started paying me to write. I won the Mary Grant Bruce Award for children’s fiction, using a story based on an idea I’d originally had for a fan story, though I ended up writing the non-fan version first.

But like Cath, I found that when you’re writing in someone else’s universe, it’s very hard to think of anything else, or to get ideas for anything else. I don’t regret the experience. It taught me a lot of writing skills, including characterization, development, short story writing, even how to write book reviews. There wasn’t an entire Internet fandom in those days, but there was plenty of feedback of a kind you don’t get in other kinds of writing. You could start a writers’ group, but that can be ineffective. But eventually, I had to focus on other writing, that might actually pay. I still read fan fic, though, and am amazed at how big it has become since the Internet came along.

So I can relate to Cath and her fannish life. And it’s nice that the author doesn’t say, “Ha ha, this nerd needs to get a life and leave fandom!” Cath eventually finds that she can do both, and have a life with friends and a boyfriend and all. The author even mentions in the FAQ at the end that people are already writing Fangirl fan fiction and she is absolutely delighted about it -- and that she started writing this when she was reading stacks of Harry Potter fiction online. I liked the regular quotes both from the Simon Snow novels and Cath’s fan fiction, between the chapters. The whole book was gentle, charming, funny and sad, all at the same time.

I did think that there would be a campus fan club for such a popular book series -- actually, Cath’s university seems strangely lacking in clubs and societies, but it’s a real place, so maybe it doesn’t have them.

I enjoyed Fangirl and I think I can persuade some of my fan writing students to read it too. ◊

Sue Bursztynski lives in Australia, where she works as a teacher-librarian. She has written several books for children and young adults, including Crime Time: Australians Behaving Badly and, most recently, the YA novel Wolfborn. Her blog, The Great Raven, can be found at http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.

Best Books of 2013: Children’s Books

This is the Books for Children and Young Adults segment of January Magazine’s Best Books of 2013 feature. You can see our picks for the Best Crime Fiction of 2013 here and Best Cookbooks of 2013 here. Still to come are our choices of the Best Non-Fiction and Best Fiction. -- LLR

• A Long Way Away written and illustrated by Frank Viva (HarperCollins Canada)
Like Along a Long Road, his award-winning debut storybook in 2011, designer Frank Viva’s A Long Way Away captivates. This is innovative children’s storytelling at its very finest. Read it one way and an alien will find his way from space to Earth’s deep sea. Read it the other way, and a sea creature is embarking on an alien adventure. The cleverness of the design boggles the mind of adults, though I’m quite sure it will enchant the young children the book is intended for. -- Monica Stark

• Allegra by Shelley Hrdlitschka (Orca)
Music is the connective tissue of Shelley Hrdlitschka’s ninth novel, Allegra. A performing arts high school is not proving to be the school Allegra dreamed about. She had imagined being able to dedicate herself completely to dance, which is her passion. It’s been a rude awakening. It’s still school, and not only must she deal with the cliques and mundane classes she’d have to take at other schools, here she is also expected to come out with a well-rounded arts education and that’s not what she had in mind at all. She is disconsolate when she’s forced to take music theory, something she’d figured she was beyond. But she finds herself surprisingly fascinated, not only by the material, but by the interesting and attractive young teacher presenting it. I liked Allegra a lot. Allegra herself is engaging enough to be a welcome companion and while some parts of the conclusion seem inevitable from the beginning, there are enough twists to make the outcome interesting. And it satisfies. -- Sienna Powers

• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin)
Eleanor & Park is so much better than it needs to be, it takes one by surprise. Though the book is aimed at young adult readers, this is the sort of ageless story that needs no limits. Readers of all ages who enjoy having their hearts touched will like this one. The pair in the title are a brace of 16-year-olds who are deeply in love. They are intelligent teens and understand that, for so many reasons, the deep attachment they feel can not last. Even so, they give into the things that call them and have a go. Eleanor & Park follows up Rowell’s debut: 2011’s smart and wonderful Attachments. No sophomore slump here. Eleanor & Park is a biography of a first love: poignant, heartfelt, ultimately doomed, but absolutely unforgettable. -- Sienna Powers

• Fairy Godmothers Inc. by Jennifer Wardell (Jollyfish)
Though Jennifer isn’t the first writer to take run at fracturing a fairytale, in her debut novel, the Utah lifestyle reporter brings something new to a timeworn subgenre. Seasoned fairy godmother Kate has just gotten a choice assignment: client Rellie (you can guess what that’s short for) isn’t sure about what her happily-ever-after should look like. Meanwhile the prince Kate produces for her client is more interested in the fairy godmother than the would-be princess. It all goes to show: relationships really can be complicated! This material could easily have felt trite and old, however Wardell manages to deliver enough unexpected twists and surprise turns that we feel we really are reading something fresh and new. This is a surprisingly sophisticated romp through one of the favorite children’s stories of all time. -- Monica Stark

• Flora’s War by Pamela Rushby (Ford Street)
It’s 1915. Teenage Australian girl Flora is in Egypt with her archaeologist father. Suddenly, there’s a war on and she will have more to worry about than this season’s dig and the cute boys she might meet at the balls and armies in Cairo. There are a lot of wounded soldiers being brought into town. To be daring, she has taken driving lessons and now, they will come in useful as she volunteers as a driver. This is another fine piece of historical fiction from one of Australia’s two top writers of history for children and teens, the other being Jackie French. -- Sue Bursztynski 

• Freaking Out: Real-Life Stories About Anxiety by Polly Wells (Annick)
Anxiety impacts millions of young people. Maybe that’s always been true, but it’s never been more true than now. On reading writer and producer Polly Wells’ Anxiety, one can’t help but think that one thing that might be terrific for young people with anxiety is reading about other people with the same concerns. One of the things that can be very powerful in all of our lives is the realization that we are not alone. Wells here collects stories from 13 adolescents. These kids are all very different but seeing their stories here between two covers is potentially reassuring, as is a resource guide to help young people find their own solutions. -- Sienna Powers

• Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper (Margaret K. McElderry)
I’ve been a huge Susan Cooper fan since The Dark Is Rising. This one is set not in Cooper’s native England, but in America, where she has lived for many years. The story is seen from two different viewpoints, that of  a Native American boy, Little Hawk, and an English boy, his friend, who lives in a new Pilgrim settlement. John, the English boy, is unlike most of his compatriots. He sympathizes with and respects the indigenous people and watches with horror what is being done to them. The book is full of beautiful, poetic descriptions of Native American life and belief and, this being a Susan Cooper novel, it has fantasy elements, but I can’t tell you what without spoilers. -- Sue Bursztynski 

• Keala Up a Tree by Patricia McLean (BeachHouse)
There is something endlessly inviting about Patricia McLean’s debut work, Keala Up a Tree, a story about a little girl -- Keala -- who calls upon all of her Hawaiian animal friends to help Gecko find a home. This is a charming story that sweetly conveys the enchantment and beauty of Hawaii in a way that will make readers in colder climes -- children and adults alike -- yearn for the magic of Hawaii. Both collectors and pint-sized adventurers will love this one. -- Linda L. Richards

• Muybridge and the Riddle of Locomotion by Marta Braun (Firefly)
For artists and illustrators, Eadweard Muybridge changed everything. The photographic work he did in the early days of photography helped us understand ourselves better, not to mention the world around us. Finally, through the amazing still photographs he took in series -- horses at high speed, people walking, running, boxing, riding -- were mysteries were solved in viewing his photos. Questions people had always asked were answered conclusively. Later he would invent the Zoopraxiscope, his “projecting magic lantern” so people could view the results of his experiments: moving pictures! Marta Braun has captured all of this beautifully in a book appropriate for kids nine and up. (But adults will enjoy it, too!) -- David Middleton

• My Life As an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg (Allen & Unwin)
Candice Phee has been given an assignment by her English teacher: write a list about her life from A to Z. Being a nerd, she decides to do it as a book. Candice has a highly over-the-top life, with her father and uncle (known as Rich Uncle Brian) not talking to each other about a patent her father believes his brother stole from him, a goldfish called Earth-Pig Fish. A friend she calls Douglas Benson From Another Dimension because he believes firmly that he’s from an alternative universe and keeps trying to return by jumping from a tree every night. And the odd thing is, he may be telling the truth: the author let’s you make up your own mind on that. Touching, funny and sad all at once. -- Sue Bursztynski 

• The First Third by William Kostakis (Penguin Australia)
Bill, a nice Greek boy with an over-the-top family, has been given a bucket list of tasks by his dying grandmother, his yia-yia. They include finding a nice girl for his (gay) older brother and bringing him home, finding a new husband for his mother, simple stuff, really. A lovely, heartwarming, funny and sad story, and semi-autobiographical, inspired by his loving family. When the author visited my school, he was swamped by female fans who had loved the book and were relieved to discover his grandmother was alive and well (she called while they were with him). The fact that he’s young and gorgeous didn’t hurt. -- Sue Bursztynski 

• The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina (Walker Books Australia)
Ashala Wolf is a girl with special powers who has been hiding out in the wilderness with other children and teens of her kind. Each has a single power. Ashala’s is Sleepwalking, which enables her to create real things in her dreams. In a world which has recovered from the devastating effects of climate change and pollution, everyone lives happily except those with powers, who are locked in detention camps. Ashala’s “tribe” has been a thorn in the side of the administration. Now she has been captured and it’s time to break her through interrogation. This was nothing like The Hunger Games, but it had about it many of the qualities I loved about that series. The first of a series. -- Sue Bursztynski 

• War Brothers by Sharon E. McKay, illustrated by Daniel LaFrance (Annick)
Though I’m still slightly torn about whether or not the making of a child soldier is appropriate fodder for a graphic novel aimed at young adult readers, the combination of Sharon E. McKay’s powerful prose and Daniel LaFrance’s luminous illustrations is just right in War Brothers, originally written in traditional novel form and published in 2008. Storyboard and graphic artist LaFrance brings the story to life with richly vivid illustrations. Shown are the abduction, training and ultimate escape of 14-year-old Ugandan Jacob, an apparent composite of children McKay interviewed several years ago who had been kidnapped then trained as soldiers for the Lord’s Resistance Army under the infamous Joseph Kony. These components -- strong story, powerful storyteller, talented artist -- make for a winning combination. -- Monica Stark

• Where Beauty Lies by Elle and Blair Fowler (St. Martin’s Press)
So, obviously, Elle and Blair Fowler’s tales of the London sisters shouldn’t make anyone’s best of lists. What is this but teenerati? No one should care about this stuff. And yet. I just simply can’t get enough. Nor am I alone, both books in the series have been well-reviewed by some pretty significant outlets. I don’t care about that, either. What I do care about? What are Ava and Sophia London up to this time? And the second book in the series (after Beneath the Glitter) more than delivers. This time out it’s New York City during Fashion Week while the London sister’s brand, London Calling, rockets skyward. It’s a heady ride and pretty much devoid of fiber or any type of real nutrition but, hey: everything in life can’t be good for you, right? -- Monica Stark

Teenagers at the End of the World: Young Readers Dance with Dystopia

Why are young readers so enthralled with fiction focused beyond the end of the world? Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series. Veronica Roth’s Divergent books. David Estes’ Dwellers. Ally Condie’s Matched. I could go on. Easily. On and on and on. It’s a long list. And growing. Dystopia is hot with kids right now. The question is, why?

The Guardian’s “Children’s Book Doctor,” Julia Eccleshare, figures she might have it worked out. Eccleshare suggests that dystopian novels “offer young readers the chance to think about what kind of world they would create for themselves if they could forge everything again.” As Eccleshare points out, “Breaking and making is at the heart of a great many stories; the devastation of the old highlights the importance of the new when it is rediscovered or reinvented.”

In addition, stories such as these empower children by trusting them with roles far beyond reality. Typically, the destruction wipes out "good" adult rulers; children step into the breach. It's not a new fictional phenomenon. Earlier examples include Robert Swindells Brother in Land, a classic title of the 1980s reflecting then current concerns about the possibility of a nuclear bomb being dropped, in which a group of children have to manage on their own after the adults have been destroyed and Marcus Sedgwick's Floodland, published at the turn of the millennium, in which, having seen her parents sail away to safety, a young girl has to navigate Eel Island and its inhabitants if she is to survive when the east of England is subsumed by flood water. In both, and in the many dystopian novels of today, an apparently bleak world is re-imagined and lit up by children who understand clearly what is worth saving as they step from childhood to adulthood. Frequently, family is let go while friendship or trust in others becomes the future foundation. Navigating that space is what all adolescents need to do which is why they like this kind of fiction so much.

You can see the full piece here.

Young Adult: Allegra by Shelley Hrdlitschka

Music is the connective tissue of Shelley Hrdlitschka’s ninth novel, Allegra (Orca Books).

A performing arts high school is not proving to be the school Allegra dreamed about. She had imagined being able to dedicate herself completely to dance, which is her passion. But in some ways, it’s been a rude awakening. It’s still school, and not only must she deal with the cliques and mundane classes she’d have to take at other schools, here she is also expected to come out with a well-rounded arts education and that’s not what she had in mind at all. She is disconsolate when she’s forced to take music theory, something she’d figured she was beyond. But she finds herself surprisingly fascinated, not only by the material, but by the interesting and attractive young teacher presenting it.

It’s not long before Allegra finds herself falling hard for Mr. Rochelli and she’s certain he feels it, too. But what if she’s mistaken about what she feels are his intentions? And, after a while, even that isn’t important. It just doesn’t seem possible that he doesn’t feel as she does.

The love Allegra feels for Mr. Rochelli lifts the girl through her days. She feels elevated. And it isn’t just what she sees inside. Others notice the change in her, so of course she figures, the love must be real.

The truth, of course, is far from what it appears to be. But as Allegra discovers the nature of these truths, she also finds fresh aspects to her own talents.

I liked Allegra a lot. Allegra herself is engaging enough to be a welcome companion and while some parts of the conclusion seem inevitable from the beginning, there are enough twists to make the outcome interesting. And it satisfies. Readers 12 and up will like this one. ◊

Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

Graphic Novel: War Brothers by Sharon E. McKay, Illustrated by Daniel LaFrance

Though I’m still slightly torn about whether or not the making of a child soldier is appropriate fodder for a graphic novel aimed at young adult readers, the combination of Sharon E. McKay’s powerful prose and Daniel LaFrance’s luminous illustrations is just right in War Brothers (Annick).

War Brothers was originally written in traditional novel form and published in 2008. Storyboard and graphic artist LaFrance brings the story to life with richly vivid illustrations shown us the abduction, training and ultimate escape of 14-year-old Ugandan Jacob, an apparent composite of children McKay interviewed several years ago who had been kidnapped then trained as soldiers for the Lord’s Resistance Army under the infamous Joseph Kony.

These components -- strong story, powerful storyteller, talented artist -- make for a winning combination. I’ll be very surprised if War Brothers doesn’t pick up its share of awards this year. ◊

Monica Stark is a contributing editor to January Magazine. She currently makes her home on a liveaboard boat somewhere in the North Pacific.

Young Adult: Hostage Three By Nick Lake

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing: a girl on a yacht with her super-rich banker father; a chance for the family to heal after a turbulent time; the peaceful sea, the warm sun . . . But a nightmare is about to explode as a group of Somali pirates seizes the boat and its human cargo - and the family becomes a commodity in a highly sophisticated transaction. Hostage 1 is Dad - the most valuable. Amy is Hostage 3. As she builds a strange bond with one of her captors, it becomes brutally clear that the price of a life and its value are very different things . . .”

Hostage Three (Bloomsbury) definitely has a dramatic opening. Amy is standing on the ship, about to be shot. It’s one of those openings that draw the reader in immediately, before going back three months, before all this started. 

Amy has just completed school, but has been automatically failed due to misbehaviour. Her mother had committed suicide during a bout of depression and Amy blames herself for having missed the clues. Her banker father is absent a lot of the time on work-related trips and now he has married again; her misbehaviour is an attempt to grab his attention. But there isn’t an info dump or exposition; you get a little information here, then more in the course of the novel, just as much as you need at any one time, so that it builds up a substantial portrait before the end -- and the final pieces fall into place after the main drama is over. Nicely done!

Despite the dramatic opening, this is not a white-knuckle thriller. The family is always in danger, so the tension is there, but that’s not the main point of the story. The trip was intended to heal the trauma and, ironically, it does, but not in the way expected. There’s this attractive young pirate, you see, Farouz.  Farouz, however, has his own tragedy, part of the constant wars in his country. As the young couple share their troubles and their memories, both begin to heal, but the ending won’t be quite as simple as in the average YA novel. 

I found the organised nature of the piracy fascinating. The Somalis, Farouz explains to Amy, had been fishermen until their fishing grounds were wiped out. Piracy has become their new local industry. He himself is the son of teachers, but he needs the money from this to get his innocent brother out of prison, where he, too, is being held for ransom.  

It’s not what we think of when we hear the word “piracy.” There are wealthy sponsors of the raids. The spoils are shared out so much per crew member, so much for the sponsor, so much for the families of any pirates -- or, as they call themselves coast guards -- who die. Any pirate who does the wrong thing during the course of the hostage situation is fined; the hostages are important to their captors and they won’t harm them unnecessarily. 

I did wonder why the heroine had to be half-American. She and her family had been living in London for several years and it didn’t really add anything to the story, except it’s convenient for the purposes of a scene set in Mexico. It wasn’t vital, though. 

It took me a while to begin this book, which I probably wouldn’t have chosen if I hadn’t received it for review, but it’s a good, easy read and, once begun, it took me very little time to finish. 

If you want a novel that reads like an adventure, but has a little more depth, this is a good one to try.

Recommended for teens from about 14 and up. ◊

Sue Bursztynski lives in Australia, where she works as a teacher-librarian. She has written several books for children and young adults, including Crime Time: Australians Behaving Badly and, most recently, the YA novel Wolfborn. Her blog, The Great Raven, can be found at http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.

Young Adult: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park (St. Martin’s Griffin) is so much better than it needs to be, it takes one by surprise. Though the book is aimed at young adult readers, this is the sort of ageless story that needs no limits. Readers of all ages who enjoy having their hearts touched will like this one.

The pair in the title are a brace of 16-year-olds who are deeply in love. They are intelligent teens and understand that, for so many reasons, the deep attachment they feel can not last. Even so, they give into the things that call them and have a go.

The misfit mid-1980s Omaha teens are an ill-made match that has their friends and families shaking their heads. Park is biracial: the “weird Asian kid” is how Eleanor first sees him, with skin “the color of sunshine through honey.” Eleanor is a loud and large, a big-boned redhead who sees herself as fat. They spin their love against a backdrop of punk rock mixtapes and it’s impossible not to root for them, even while you suspect that this story of first love will not have an a-typical ending.

Eleanor & Park follows up Rowell’s debut: 2011’s smart and wonderful Attachments. No sophomore slump here. Eleanor & Park is a biography of a first love: poignant, heartfelt, ultimately doomed, but absolutely unforgettable. ◊


Sienna Powers is a contributing editor to January Magazine.

Young Adult: The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress

Author, actor and director Adrienne Kress (Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate) attacks her first young adult novel with cinematic verve. In her newest book, Kress delivers a high-spirited study of the nature of heroism at the hands of a trio of girls in a steampunk world.

The Friday Society (Dial) brings us lab assistant Cora, magician’s assistant Nellie and Michiko, the flight assistant: all three game girls who assist powerful men. They meet under mad circumstances and are united at the discovery of an unsolved murder that may have links to each of their lives. The book is period, but still entirely contemporary in tone, as one can see from the opening lines:

And then there was an explosion.

It was loud. It was bright. It was very explosion-y… 

Kablooey.

That was the technical term for it.

So there is a lightness to The Friday Society, but never a silliness, and Kerr maintains that balance with an almost perfect zen. Kress’ starring three are charming -- competent, intelligent and anything but typical -- but Kress’ secondary characters are almost as interesting. ◊

Sienna Powers is a transplanted Calgarian who lives and works in Vancouver, B.C. She is a writer and conceptual artist.

Best Books of 2012: Children’s Books

This is the Best Books for Children and Young Adults segment of January Magazine’s Best Books of 2012 feature. Also available are our picks for best crime, mystery and thriller fiction of 2012, in two parts: one and two. As well, here are the best cookbooks of 2012. Still to come: our contributors’ selections of the Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction, Best Art & Culture, Best Biography and Best Science Fiction/Fantasy. Look for them in the coming days.

Black Painted Fingernails by Steven Herrick (Allen & Unwin)
Steven Herrick is one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary poets. His competence and passion for words shows up in his prose, as well and his late YA entry, Black Painted Fingernails, does not disappoint. James is shy and geeky. Sophie is sleek and confident. When life puts them together on a cross-country road trip, it is inevitable that life-changing and coming of age will ensue. James is looking for the strength to live his own life, away from family for the first time. Meanwhile Sophie is at the other end of the spectrum, trying to pull together the pieces of her own shattered past. On the road together as strangers, they open up to each other and help each other towards their own truths. Black Painted Fingernails is warm, real and unforgettable. -- Aaron Blanton

Eldritch Manor by Kim Thompson (Dundurn)
Is there something odd about the boarding house down the street? That’s what 12-year-old Willa Fuller wonders, even thinking that the people who live there might be being kept as prisoners. But when Willa is hired on as a housekeeper, she learns the truth: Eldritch Manor is something like a magical retirement home, where strange and magical beings with stories to tell are living out their unusual years. But when Willa is left alone to keep the place in order, she is faced with crisis after crisis, including the possible unraveling of time. (Which is never good!) Eldritch Manor is slender but compelling: a fantastical adventure story in a small package with a big whallop. Filmmaker-turned-author Kim Thompson understands what makes a story work. She has been generous with that knowledge here. Eldritch Manor is charming, compelling and just the right amount of scary. I enjoyed this one a lot. -- India Wilson

Freakling by Lana Krumweide (Candlewick)
“If everyone is special, is anyone really special?” The famous phrase is what Lana Krumweide’s Freakling is about. In the future, there is an isolated metropolis called Deliverance where everyone has a telekinetic power called psi. Taemon is an 11-year old boy who’s finally starting to get the hang of using his power while his older brother, Yens, torments him and is believed to be the new successor of Deliverance, otherwise known as the True Son. But what is unknown is Yens has true evil inside him and everyone but Taemon is blind to that. Yens soon goes as far as almost killing his brother, which gives Taemon the ability to kill him. But Taemon can't do it, and the inner force that controls everyone’s psi takes Taemon’s away. Freakling is an amazing story about what happens when superpowers get out of hand. Ben Parker wasn’t wrong when he said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Five stars. You’ll be intrigued at every turn, wanting to read more and more. The book is full of wonderful ideas and things that you wouldn’t think of.  -- Ian Buchsbaum

Get Outside: The Kids Guide to Fun in the Great Outdoors by Jane Drake & Ann Love, illustrated by Heather Collins (KidsCan)
In an era when adults often complain about how kids don’t get out to play enough and spend too much time watching television or playing computer games, Get Outside provides a fairly complete list of what kids can do in the great outdoors. Get Outside is meant to be a strong tool against “I’m bored!” The book not only provides dozens of ideas for outdoor fun, it also offers historic, scientific and cultural context in the form of lists and sidebars intended to create a book that even reluctant readers will feel comfortable using. From making a scarecrow to flying a kite and juggling bubbles, Get Outside is a great tool to help create active readers. -- Monica Stark 

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
History and fantasy are often an uneasy blend, with neither coming out very well against the other. Robin LaFevers’ Grave Mercy proves the exception, a thrilling journey following an assassin nun on her deadly trail through a fantastic version of 15th century France. When she escapes from an unthinkable arranged marriage, 17-year-old Ismae finds sanctuary at a convent where her gifts from the god of Death are discovered. She is trained as an assassin to serve as Death’s handmaiden, an uneasy robe, but one she must be willing to take in order to be able to move forward. “Why be the sheep when you can be the wolf?” is the motto of Grave Mercy, the first book in a series called “His Fair Assassin.” Beautifully written and imaginatively realized, a new series this good only debuts every few years. I loved every word. -- Monica Stark

Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs (Entangled Teen)
Though it’s not difficult to find someone to tell you that the whole teen paranormal book thing has been done to death, young readers don’t seem to be listening. Writers don’t either: though, thankfully, we’ve begun to see fewer vampires and evermore night creatures with only one thing in common: despite odd bits of lore and heritage, the weird dudes in YA novels these days need to be mindlessly hot. Without speculating on what impact this might have on the future mate selection of the young women who read these books, I get the fascination with sexy vampires, angels and all other manner of unexpected leading men. But I have to admit: it takes a bit of authorly magic to fit that sexiness around the most unlikely of love interests. Of course the title of Chloe Jacobs’ Greta and the Goblin King gives away the nature of the ultimate object of protagonist Greta’s affections. But a goblin? C'mon! Yet Jacobs makes it work. Before she can make any headway with Isaac, said Goblin King, bounty hunter Greta will be exposed to all sorts of nightmarish danger, enough, in any case, to keep readers perched at the edge of their seats. A contemporary fantasy quest with a strong romantic element, Greta and the Goblin King will have young readers swooning for a sequel. -- Linda L. Richards

The Mark of Athena: Heroes of Olympus, Book 3 by Rick Riordan (Hyperion)
Rick Riordan fed readers with The Mark of Athena, the third book in the sequel series to the popular Percy Jackson novels. Although this book showed a lot of repetition, it shows the Rick Riordan still has it. I was hooked since before page one, since Riordan left the last book off at a massive cliffhanger; a clever trick. I was bothered by the repetition: one of the main characters frequently getting knocked out, long travels, groups of three, a god or goddess giving them advice in the form of a riddle. They would also reference things from earlier books, but it’s been so long since the last book, everyone forgot about that stuff. But you can ignore all those things, and let yourself get hooked. This masterpiece is for everyone, since it has so many genres to it; action, Greek mythology, Roman mythology, even a little bit of romance, and comedy. The best part about it are the many reveals to the prophecy we read about in the fifth book of the first series, like who are the demigods for a quest and what they have to do. This book hits the mark (of Athena), leaving readers wanting more. -- Ian Buchsbaum

Moonlight and Ashes by Sophie Masson (Random House Australia)
Interestingly, this year my YA favourites were all by Australian women writers and all were based on, or inspired by, folk tales. Moonlight and Ashes is Sophie Masson’s version of Cinderella. It’s based on the German version, Ashputtel, in which the Cinderella character is a lot stronger than the French Cendrillon, who is very passive. She uses a hazel tree planted on her mother’s grave to get herself to the ball. This one simply uses the Cinderella story as a jumping off place and her heroine is even tougher than Ashputtel. Sophie Masson is very good with folk tale-based novels -- most of her books are inspired by fairy tales, so she has had a lot of practice in this area. The setting is firmly 19th century Europe, though in a fictional country. But among all the steam trains and newspapers, there is still the magic of a “once upon a time” kingdom. -- Sue Bursztynski

Potatoes on Rooftops: Farming in the City by Hadley Dyer (Annick Press)
Potatoes on Rooftops is just about the best introduction to the new food movement that one could imagine. Intended for nine to 12-year-olds, there is a lot here for almost everyone who is interested in small-scale urban farming. Or, in the case of the kids who will read the book, everyone who should be interested. The book looks at what’s happening in cities with regards to foods we can all grow and be part of. Very much like Jennifer Cockrall-King’s Food and the City, but for the junior set, it’s impossible to read Potatoes on Rooftops without feeling like getting your hands dirty. The book looks at examples of city gardening including high school programs in Toronto and Detroit. It also looks at some of the specifics of urban gardening: composting, seeding and planting in small and unusual places and includes looks at innovative places to plant. It’s powerful to think Potatoes on Rooftops might set kids to digging. But even if it doesn’t, getting them thinking now might be enough for later. In any case, it’s a dead interesting book. -- Sienna Powers

Redwing by Holly Bennett (Orca)
Rowan’s entire family is wiped out by the plague and he’s left alone in a hostile world not unlike (but not entirely like, either) our own Middle Ages. He keeps himself going, traveling in his family’s old caravan, going from town to town playing music made all the more poignant by his broken heart. After a while, he forms an uneasy alliance with another young musician who has the ability to help Rowan communicate with his dead sister. The story turns on the twinned themes of friendship and grief and places an engaging story into a fascinating landscape. As she did in 2010’s Shapeshifter, Bennett brings a fantasy world into suspenseful, believable life. -- Sienna Powers

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (Allan & Unwin)
If, like me, you grew up on Celtic folk tales, you’ll be familiar with the story of the human male who gets himself an otherworldly bride. With a few exceptions, it’s really only in modern YA paranormals that it’s the other way around. Basically, there are two kinds: There’s the one where she’s the daughter of a king of the otherworld, whether it’s the sea or Faerie; and there’s the one where she’s a selkie (seal-maiden) whose skin is stolen while she’s dancing around in human form. There is always a condition -- the groom has to promise not to ask her certain questions, not to hit her without cause (Welsh -- The Physicians of Myddfai), not to see what she gets up to on Saturdays (Melusine, who is, in theory, the ancestress of the British royal family), or he has to keep her sealskin hidden because once she finds it, she’ll grab it and go home, even leaving her children by her land husband. Invariably, the husband breaks the contract, mostly by accident, and loses his wife and any wealth she brought with her. Margo Lanagan’s Sea Hearts asks: Yes, but what happens generations later when there are descendants of those seal maidens in a small community where presumably the gene pool is pretty small? Sea Hearts  is a series of connected novellas, told from the viewpoints of a number of characters, including Miskaella herself. Despite this, there is still a twist at the end, when you realize that Miskaella didn’t tell you quite everything. The writing is beautiful, your heart aches for those selkie girls and you can even understand why Miskaella is so bitter. It’s a fascinating take on the old folk tales, a wonderful “what if ... ?” In Sea Hearts (called The Brides of Rollrock Island outside Australia) the author asks what happens centuries later when the islanders are mostly descended from these reluctant brides? And what happens when Miskaella, a young woman who has been bullied by the other women finds she can bring beautiful women out of the island’s seal population? It’s an exquisitely beautiful novel, seen from a number of viewpoints over a couple of generations. -- Sue Bursztynski

The Secret of the Fortune Wookie by Tom Angleberger (Amulet)
Breaking the rule that says the first of a trilogy is the best, I thought that the third book the popular Origami Yoda series was the best one yet! This addition to the trio was full of hilarity and kept me hooked throughout the whole book, with interesting stories and fun concepts. Tom Angleberger has continued his streak of wonderful books with this great story. The star of The Secret of the Fortune Wookie is ... well, a Fortune Wookie: a cootie catcher designed to look like the famous character Chewbacca from Star Wars. This time, our origami wielder is none other than Sara, the girlfriend of our main character, Tommy. She lets the students ask questions, which are answered with roars and are translated by the Fortune Wookie’s friend, Han Foldo. But, while the students have fun with the Fortune Wookie, the infamous Harvey is trying to prove that all this origami stuff is fake, and that he’s been right all along. Meanwhile, the star of the first books in the series, Dwight and Origami Yoda, are trapped at a fancy private school where everyone has picked up on making Star Wars origami, making Dwight miserable and no longer unique. Read Secret of the Fortune Wookie to see how everything is resolved.  -- Ian Buchsbaum

The Third Wheel: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 7 by Jeff Kinney (Amulet)
After six books, readers couldn’t get enough, so Jeff Kinney gave it to them. The Third Wheel, the seventh book in Diary of a Wimpy kid series, has arrived. This time around, Greg is in the circle of love, but the third one. The book illustrates the complications Greg faces with school and girlfriends. This continuation fulfills all the archetypes the other ones filled; Greg wasting money, going out of his way to impress someone, shocking twists and something always going wrong. The book was so amazing, I read it in about an hour and a half. I crack when I read about the childish thoughts of Rowley -- Greg’s best friend -- alongside Greg’s street smarts and high expectations. I suggest this book for about 3rd to 7th graders, give or take. A definitely awesome book. -- Ian Buchsbaum

Toads on Toast by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Colin Jack (KidsCan)
I am invariably charmed by the combination of a delightful and slightly aberrant story with top notch illustrations. That was certainly the case with this year’s Toads on Toast by award-winning author Linda Bailey. In this story, Mama Toad is desperately trying to keep her brood out of a hungry fox’s frying pan. The matter is resolved by an entirely vegetarian version of toad-in-a-hole (recipe included). Colin Jack’s illustrations fairly crackle with the energy of his animation background and the story is compelling and entirely engaging. -- Monica Stark

Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe by Wallace Edwards (Orca)
“This is Uncle Wally’s old brown shoe/This is the kitten that drove around in Uncle Wally’s old brown shoe/This is the pig in the fancy hat that tickled the kitten that drove around in Uncle Wally’s old brown shoe.” And so on. The rhyme is inspired by The House That Jack Built, but the illustrations seem inspired by many places and leave the reader with a plethora of input. Where to leave one’s eyes? So much is going on in every panel, it’s hard to know where to begin and end. The illustrations, also by author Wallace Edwards, have a Victorian feel. The depth, detail and wimsey seem vintage, as well. Children will enjoy the solid rhymes and deeply detailed illustrations, but I’ve a hunch that collectors will be on the list for this book, as well. -- Monica Stark

Under My Skin by Charles de Lint (RazorBill)
The premise of Under My Skin is very good. Something is happening to the young people in a town called Santa Feliz. And the thing that is happening is so dramatic, it’s difficult to believe. The kids are changing shape: shedding their human forms and becoming various animals. Basically, if you can think of it, the animal is represented. These are shape-shifters with a difference. The action focuses on Josh Saunders who shifts for the first time during an argument with his mother’s boyfriend that, from Josh’s perspective, goes from argument to Josh standing over the man, as blood drips from his mountain lion claws. Josh’s experience almost undoes him, but he will emerge as one of the leaders of the wildlings. de Lint is credited with the creation of the urban fantasy and readers will encounter that in this story. The setting is perfectly contemporary -- anytown and any group of kids. In a way, that’s what makes the story so chilling and helps make it work this well. The book is a wonderful exploration of a very good idea, but it is also a deeply human tale. -- Lincoln Cho

Under the Moon by Deborah Kerbel (Dancing Cat Books)
When Lily MacArthur’s Aunt Su dies, Lily pretty much loses her tenuous hold on sleep. She’s was never terribly good at sleeping, but with Su’s death, sleep evades her entirely. As she begins to lose her health -- and maybe, to a certain degree, her sanity -- Lily begins to push away her human friends while drawing ever closer to the moon she struggles under every night. When she meets new boy Ben, it seems for a time that he’ll be able to help Lily recapture her lost sleep. But Ben’s own past is troubled and perhaps somewhat dark and he has problems of his own. Under the Moon is a classic coming of age story, yet our quirky narrator, Lily, holds us entranced. Lily is beautifully fleshed out. A damaged teen, but weren’t we all, to some degree? Damaged and confused to discover that the adult life that’s threatening to erupt all around us is not at all what we pictured when we were little kids. Kerbel captures all of these emotions so delicately, explaining why this book was so heavily awarded in its native Canada this year. -- Sienna Powers

Young Adult: The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

It seems ironic that the author who suffered a scandal for weaving too much fiction into his memoir should come back as part of a writing team that claims no earthly connection. Some would say there is room for scandal at the heart of Full Fathom Five, the writer’s factory Frey set up to create new projects. We won’t go into that here, as it’s been well covered in the press and may, in any case, be old news. The new news is the master creation: under the pseudonym of Pittacus Lore, Frey and other of his factory writers recreated themselves as the author of the bestselling Lorien Legacies. The author’s bio looks like this:

Pittacus Lore is Lorien’s ruling Elder. He had been on Earth preparing for the war that will decide Earth’s fate. His whereabouts are unknown.

Which, of course, does not even play at truth, or even reality, but rather enhances the story that Frey and company have come to tell. Fair ball? I’m not really sure, but if the wildfire sales that have driven this series for the past few years are any evidence, Frey is onto something here. After all, everyone knows: kids dig pretend.

The Rise of the Nine (HarperCollins) is the third book in what is being forecast as a six book series. Readers who have been following the exploits of Number Four are in for a shock about Sarah and will get to finally uncover the identity of Number Eight.

Science fiction at its finest is spirit lifting and mind-expanding. This isn’t that. The Rise of Nine is both compelling and contrived: an odd combination that apparently works for a large number of readers. In fact, over 1.25 million readers have tuned into this exciting series already, a number no doubt fueled by the 2011 Michael Bay film based on the first book, I Am Number Four. While the film made bags of money, the critics heaped it with vitriol and the books are somewhat like that: forgettable, overwrought space schmaltz that, nonetheless, have a huge following.

If you take all of that as read, we’ll be hearing a lot more from Pittacus Lore as time moves on. ◊

Linda L. Richards is the editor of January Magazine and the author of several books.

Young Adult: Blood Storm by Rhiannon Hart

In Blood Storm (Random House Australia) Princess Zeraphina and Rodden, the King's right-hand man, are both “harmings,” a kind of vampire who isn’t actually undead, but does need blood; it doesn’t have to be human and they make the most of small creatures such as rabbits and squirrels. But now beggars and other unlikely-to-be missed folk have been found drained of blood in the streets. Sailors and their ships are going missing.

In Blood Song, the previous book, Rodden and Zeraphina made their way north to Lharmell, home of the vampires, and stopped a mass Turning, killing the leader of the harmings. Back then, the harmings weren't too bright, but now someone is actually planning. They have to be stopped, but Rodden's kingdom has been refusing to believe anything is wrong and Zeraphina's mother wants her to come home and get married. And they are both running short of yelbar, the stuff they need to tip their arrows if they're going to kill the horrors up north...

This novel is better than the first. The universe is more developed and we learn why the south part of the continent is colder than the north, and it isn't because Antarctica is nearby. We learn about Rodden's past, which isn't pretty.

Despite the pretty cover, Blood Storm is not a standard paranormal romance; it's an action adventure with romance in it, although Zeraphina's love for Rodden is an important part of her motivation. The heroine is not a Mary Sue, nor a Chosen One, and if she's good with a bow and arrow, she has earned it with a lot of practice; any other abilities she has are the result of being a harming, if a special harming who has experimented. She also has a brain she is willing to use. ◊

Sue Bursztynski lives in Australia, where she works as a teacher-librarian. She has written several books for children and young adults, including Crime Time: Australians Behaving Badly and, most recently, the YA novel Wolfborn. Her blog, The Great Raven, can be found at http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.

SF/F: Under My Skin by Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint is one of the ranking names in SF/F. With 36 novels to his credit, as well as 36 collections of short fiction, he is prolific as well as fiercely talented.

While de Lint has published fiction for young readers in the past, those works have been much overshadowed by his novels and stories for adults. For instance, 2007’s Little (Grrl) Lost and The Painted Boy from 2010 seem to have been well enough liked by both readers and critics, but they didn’t ever get the kind of traction we know this writer is capable of. Under My Skin (RazorBill) is different and we can’t help but think that it will receive at least part of the attention a book with this pedigree deserves.

The premise is very good. Something is happening to the young people in a town called Santa Feliz. And the thing that is happening is so dramatic, it’s difficult to believe. The kids are changing shape: shedding their human forms and becoming various animals. Basically, if you can think of it, the animal is represented. These are shape-shifters with a difference.

The action focuses on Josh Saunders who shifts for the first time during an argument with his mother’s boyfriend that, from Josh’s perspective, goes from argument to Josh standing over the man, as blood drips from his mountain lion claws. Josh’s experience almost undoes him, but he will emerge from his experience as one of the leaders of the wildlings.

de Lint is credited with the creation of the urban fantasy and readers will encounter that in this story. The setting is perfectly contemporary -- anytown and any group of kids. In a way, that’s what makes the story so chilling and helps make it work this well.

As well, de Lint captures the voice and concerns of youth perfectly in this novel. The master storyteller at play. The book is a wonderful exploration of a very good idea, but it is also a deeply human tale. ◊

Lincoln Cho is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in the Chicago area, where he works in the high-tech industry. He is currently working on a his first novel, a science-fiction thriller set in the world of telecommunications.

Forget Vampires: Dystopia is the New Black for Teens

With her bleak but beautifully rendered visions of a dystopian future, in books like Oryx and Crake and even 1985’s The Handmaid’s Tale, we always knew Margaret Atwood was ahead of her time. Now The Telegraph (who knows everything) confirms:

Many parents might feel worried on finding their teenage children addicted to grim visions of a future in which global warming has made the seas rise, the earth dry up, genetically engineered plants run riot and humans fight over the last available scraps of food. Yet with the arrival of the film of the first book of Suzanne Collins’s best-selling trilogy The Hunger Games this month, dystopia for teenagers has hit an all-time high in public consciousness. The hottest genre in publishing and film on both sides of the Atlantic, it has rendered wizards and vampires redundant. And teen fiction is now so popular that it has entered the shopping basket of goods by which we calculate inflation.

The Gary Ross-directed film based on Suzanne Collins’ top-selling books will be out later this month. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson and will be released in both regular and IMAX theaters.

Young Adult: Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan

If, like me, you’ve grown up on Celtic folk tales, you’ll be familiar with the story of the human male who gets himself an otherworldly bride. With a few exceptions, it’s really only in modern YA paranormals that it’s the other way around.

Basically, there are two kinds: There’s the one where she’s the daughter of a king of the otherworld, whether it’s the sea or Faerie; and there’s the one where she’s a selkie (seal-maiden) whose skin is stolen while she’s dancing around in human form. There is always a condition -- the groom has to promise not to ask her certain questions, not to hit her without cause (Welsh -- The Physicians of Myddfai), not to see what she gets up to on Saturdays (Melusine, who is, in theory, the ancestress of the British royal family), or he has to keep her sealskin hidden because once she finds it, she’ll grab it and go home, even leaving her children by her land husband. Invariably, the husband breaks the contract, mostly by accident, and loses his wife and any wealth she brought with her.

Margo Lanagan’s Sea Hearts (Allen and Unwin) asks: Yes, but what happens generations later when there are descendants of those seal maidens in a small community where presumably the gene pool is pretty small?

In the 19th century, Miskaella Prout is a girl none of the limited supply of men on the island of Rollrock wants to marry. After being treated as a minor goddess by the old folk and like dirt by everyone else, she discovers that she can actually draw girls out of the seals, without having to wait for them to drop their skins and dance in the moonlight. And those girls are absolutely gorgeous and better still, they’ll pretty much do as they’re told and go with the man who’s there when they emerge. This is a way not only to make a living but also to get revenge on all those other girls who managed to catch husbands.

It succeeds beyond her wildest dreams and Miskaella is rich, while the men all owe her money for their Stepford wives.

But the island’s culture changes, once the only girls left in town are seals -- and unlike the Ira Levin robots, these women have emotions and can be unhappy.

Sea Hearts (to be published in the U.S. and UK as The Brides of Rollrock Island) is a series of connected novellas, told from the viewpoints of a number of characters, including Miskaella herself. Despite this, there is still a twist at the end, when you realize that Miskaella didn’t tell you quite everything.

The writing is beautiful, your heart aches for those selkie girls and you can even understand why Miskaella is so bitter. It’s a fascinating take on the old folk tales, a wonderful “what if ... ?”

Margo Lanagan is one of the best writers of literary spec fic around. Her writing is always beautiful and she creates characters you can care for -- even if, like Miskaella, they’re ruining everyone else’s lives.

Damn, I wish I’d written this one. ◊

Sue Bursztynski lives in Australia, where she works as a teacher-librarian. She has written several books for children and young adults, including Crime Time: Australians Behaving Badly and, most recently, the YA novel Wolfborn. Her blog, The Great Raven, can be found at http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.

Holiday Gift Guide: Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

It’s encouraging to me as a human to see the large numbers of really good authors of young adult and children’s books getting a lot of attention and drawing ever-increasing armies of new readers.

I’d be hard pressed this holiday to choose a single must-have book to buy in the place where a Twilight or a Harry Potter book used to go. Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games books are contenders, of course. As is anything by Christopher Paolini and it’s certainly much too soon to cross Stephenie Meyer off any list of books aimed at this age group. But Becca Fitzpatrick, three novels into Hush, Hush, a very interesting series, is certainly something like a contender.

This might be especially true because that third book, Silence (Simon & Schuster), is easily the best book Fitzpatrick has written. No vampires here and no magical boys: Angels and archangels pepper Fitzpatrick’s books. It’s difficult to tell much without offering up a spoiler or two, so suffice it to say that there is both romance and danger aplenty in Fitzpatrick’s books and possibly a bit more darkness than light. If you’ve not been following the series, Silence is a strong enough book that it really does stand alone.

So is this the single must-have book for YA readers this season? Probably not but, from I’d certainly stack it with the best of those. ◊

Monica Stark is a contributing editor to January Magazine. She currently makes her home on a liveaboard boat somewhere in the North Pacific.

Holiday Gift Guide: Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

“In the beginning, there were dragons: proud, fierce, and independent. Their scales were like gems, and all who gazed upon them despaired, for their beauty was great and terrible.”

Inheritance (Knopf) is the fourth and final book in wunderkind Christopher Paolini’s heart-stoppingly good series. It finishes this deeply imaginative story in a satisfying and completely creative way.

Looking back it seems that Eragon, the first book in the series, was a genuine hit practically from the moment it was published by Knopf in 2003. The reality is quite different.

Convinced that their son had created a masterwork, Paolini’s parents self-published Eragon. In 2002, Carl Hiassen’s stepson bought the book and loved it and brought it to his stepfather’s attention. Hiassen concurred and brought the book to Knopf. And the rest, as they say, is history with Eragon spending 121 weeks on the New York Times Children’s Books Best Seller list and the first three books in the series have sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

Fans of this popular series will be glad to find a copy of Inheritance under their tree. ◊

Lincoln Cho is a freelance writer and editor. He lives in the Chicago area, where he works in the high-tech industry. He is currently working on a his first novel, a science-fiction thriller set in the world of telecommunications.