Tag Archive for: fantasy

Monday Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

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In case you missed it, this summer a new Harry Potter book was released.

The first thing that needs to be said about the latest Harry Potter book is that it’s not really a book. It’s a play.

The second thing that needs to be said is that it’s not really written by J.K. Rowling. The play is written by Jack Thorne, and it’s based on a story idea by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne himself.

harry-potter-and-the-cursed-childTitle: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Author: Jack Thorne

Genre: fantasy

Synopsis: It’s nineteen years since Harry Potter and his friends defeated Lord Voldemort. (Uhh, should I have mentioned a spoiler alert? You did read the original seven stories, right?) Harry has married Ginny and had three children. It’s time for his second son, Albus, to head off to Hogwarts, but Albus isn’t thrilled about being the son of the famous Harry Potter. When an unexpected time turner is discovered, Albus and his new friend at Hogwarts decide to travel back in time to right some wrongs.

It’s hard to talk too much about the plot of this play without giving away too much. I’ll only warn you that the story skips forward in time pretty quickly in the beginning. Albus is just a first year at the beginning, and then suddenly he’s in his fourth year.

While it was a lot of fun to be back with the characters and settings of Harry Potter, I found a few things about the play to be distracting. First, because it’s written as a script, we didn’t get the descriptions of the characters we usually get. This might not have been a problem with characters we already knew from the first seven books, but when a new character (such as Delphi) is introduced, we get something very brief, such as “a twenty-something, determined-looking woman.” That doesn’t really tell us much, and at times, she came across as more of a kid than an adult.

Another thing that tripped me up was when characters would suddenly “appear” on the scene, but they would never actually enter the stage. At one point, a character begins speaking, and I thought, “When did he walk onto the stage? Where is he standing on the stage? Or are we just hearing his voice? Is this a voiceover?”

All that being said, the climactic scenes have some nice tension, and the characters remain true to how we’d expect them to act.

Final verdict? If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter series, you’ll probably want this just to add to your collection and to find out what might have happened to Potter and friends, but realize that it’s not going to read like the original series.

 

Monday Book Review: The Fantastic Frame #1 (Danger! Tiger Crossing)

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A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Lin Oliver, the author of the Fantastic Frame series, at an SCBWI meeting. (SCBWI stands for Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.) In fact, Lin is one of the co-founders of SCBWI, so it was cool to hear how the group came to be and how Lin has worked in the television and film industry all the while hoping to become a children’s book author. If you recognize her name, it may be because she’s co-authored a ton of children’s books with Henry Winkler, a.k.a. the Fonz.

Fantastic FrameTitle: Danger! Tiger Crossing (The Fantastic Frame #1)

Author: Lin Oliver

Genre: fantasy

Age group: chapter book (grades 1-3)

Synopsis: Ten-year-old Tiger Brooks has just moved into a new neighborhood. He lives on the lower level of a duplex with a friendly girl named Luna Lopez living upstairs and a “crazy” old lady named Viola Dots living next door. When Tiger sees a talking, top-hat wearing Pig disappear into Viola’s house, he and Luna decide to investigate. Inside, they discover that many years ago Viola’s thirteen-year-old son disappeared inside a painting that had been hung in a fantastical frame. Tiger soon discovers that the frame has an “hour of power,” during which you can step inside whatever painting is inside that frame. Before long, he and Luna are sucked into the same painting that Viola’s son disappeared into. Now they need to find Viola’s son and bring him back home to his distraught mother.

Art lovers will probably really enjoy this series as Lin Oliver introduces a new famous painting into each book in the series. As you can imagine, Tiger and Luna head into each painting in order to find Viola’s son, but something always keeps them from bringing him back.

IMG_2633This story is cute and a very fast read. I think I read it in a half hour. As someone who reads and writes middle grade and young adult, I’m afraid I just don’t know enough about chapter books to do any kind of fair comparison for you, but the concept behind this series is a fantastic one, and art lovers will definitely enjoy it!

It was great fun meeting Lin, and I wish her the best of luck with this series!

 

 

Monday Book Review: The Caretaker’s Guide to Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

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A couple years ago, I posted one of my Monday Book Reviews on Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. The book first came to my attention because it was reviewed in a newsletter by a bookseller who had (in that same issue) included an article I wrote about how I use contemporary fantasy novels and classical mythology to teach the concept of a hero story.

If you’re not familiar with Mull’s Fablehaven series and you’re a fan of middle grade fantasy, I recommend you check them out. I’ve found that many of my students who are fans of Harry Potter or books like A Tale Dark & Grimm have really enjoyed this series.

Thus, when the publisher emailed me and invited me to take part in the blog tour for The Caretaker’s Guide to Fablehaven, I was very excited. For my participation, I received a free NetGalley copy of the book.

Caretaker's Guide to Fablehaven

The Caretaker’s Guide to Fablehaven is akin to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them from the Harry Potter series. In other words, instead of a story, what we have here is a book detailing all the fantastical creatures one might run into at Fablehaven. In alphabetical order and with beautiful illustrations, each creature is described, along with how you should best interact with them, especially if you end up being their caretaker!

Unfortunately, because I was looking at a NetGalley copy on my iPad, the gorgeous illustrations didn’t always line up quite right with the descriptions; however, if you head over to Amazon and look at the sample pages, you’ll see that this is clearly going to be a beautiful book when it comes out in hardcover, which officially happens . . . oh, that’s right, TOMORROW!!!!

So happy early release day, Brandon Mull! And happy reading to all you fans of Fablehaven!

8 Books to Engage Your Middle School Student this School Year

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As an author and middle school English teacher, I get a lot of requests from parents about what books I might recommend to their children. Since the school I teach at started early this year, I’ve already been listening to my students’ book talks on what they chose to read this summer. It hit me this past week that there are definitely some recurring favorites that have popped up many times over recent years.

So if you’re looking for a book to recommend to your child in middle school, here are some of the repeat favorites as recommended by their own peers! (In other words, the kids really like these books.)

Wonder1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio–If you haven’t yet discovered this gem about a boy with physical deformities heading back to a regular school after years of being home-schooled, please do yourself a favor and get a copy. I adored Wonder, I have nieces who have read it multiple times, and a ton of my students have enjoyed it and called it one of their favorites as well. You can read my original review here.

Mysterious Benedict Society2. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart–Fun, fun, fun series of books by an author I got to meet years ago when the first book came out and he came to visit my school. A group of gifted children are invited to join a secret society only to find out they have been chosen for a very special mission. The Mysterious Benedict Society has a creative cast of characters, fun puzzles and riddles to solve, and an engaging plot. Even my mom read this one! Original review here.

IMG_37943. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin–This one is for lovers of fables and folklore. Grace Lin’s drawings are gorgeous, and her writing will sweep you away. In this story, a young girl travels to meet the Old Man in the Moon in order to save her poor family from famine. Original review here. Lovely tale!

 

So B. It4. So B. It by Sarah Weeks–A lovely contemporary story with a bit of a mystery to solve. Twelve-year-old Heidi lives with her mother who is mentally challenged. Her mom can only speak a few words, but Heidi is determined to get to the bottom of one word in particular that she can’t quite figure out. Original review here.

 

Ivan5. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate–This Newbery Medal Winner is reminiscent of Charlotte’s Web. A silverback gorilla named Ivan is the top attraction at the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. His best friend is an elephant named Stella. When a new baby elephant arrives, Ivan decides he needs to find a better life for her than the Big Top Mall. Original review here. Probably most appropriate for younger middle school readers.

IMG_37906. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull–A great series for fantasy lovers who have finished Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and are looking for something else with magical creatures. I first reviewed this book back in 2013, and I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be participating in the official blog tour for Brandon Mull’s next book: The Caretaker’s Guide to Fablehaven. Watch for my special post in October!

When You Reach Me7. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead–Fans of quirky mysteries with a major plot twist at the end will love this story of sixth grader Miranda who keeps receiving mysterious messages. The notes eerily predict the future and carry warnings of what might come. I can’t say too much about this book because I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say it was one of those books where the ending made it all worthwhile! Check out my review here.

Hidden Talents8. Hidden Talents by David Lubar–If you have a reluctant reader, this is the book I recommend. I’ll warn that it comes with a little mild language, but I’ve found that nearly every child I’ve read this book to (I change damn to darn and sucks to stinks when I read it aloud) loves it. There’s a sequel too. The kids often ask if there’s a third book and are really disappointed when I inform them there isn’t. Original review here.

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Writing Wednesday: Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces Part III

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For the last two Wednesdays, I’ve been posting about Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell studied stories from mythologies around the world and found that the hero stories had certain common elements. The first phase is the separation phase. This is followed by the initiation phase. Today we’ll discuss the third and final phase of the hero’s journey. (Spoiler alert: I’ll be discussing the ending of The Odyssey and Harry Potter, so if you don’t know what happens at the end, you may want to stop reading now. 🙂 )

The return phase of the hero’s journey:

  • Refusal of Return–The hero doesn’t want to go back at first. In The Odyssey, Odysseus does find himself in a few situations (e.g. Calypso’s island) where he doesn’t want to leave.
  • Magic Flight–The hero “flies” somewhere, often this is while he’s being pursued. This could be Harry Potter on his broom, or Dorothy using her ruby slippers to go back home.
  • Rescue from Without–Someone rescues the hero and brings him back home. Hermes has to come to Calypso’s island to free Odysseus. Princess Leia has to get the Millenium Falcon back to Cloud City to get Luke after his lightsaber fight with Vader.
  • Yes, I've been to the "real" Platform 9-3/4. Too bad my cart got stuck halfway through the wall.

    Yes, I’ve been to the “real” Platform 9-3/4. Too bad my cart got stuck halfway through the wall.

    Crossing of the Return Threshold–The hero makes his way back home. This is often the opposite of a scene from the separation phase. For example, Harry Potter takes the Hogwarts Express back to the Muggle world.

  • Master of Two Worlds–Hero has control over his own world and the new world he conquered. When Odysseus returns to his home of Ithaca, he has to battle the men who were trying to marry his wife in his absence. When he defeats them, he’s won both the Trojan War abroad and the “battle” at home.
  • Freedom to Live–The object of the original quest is totally realized. Odysseus has back his wife and son. Harry Potter has defeated Voldemort. Am I giving too much away? 🙂

Parts I and II of the Hero’s Journey can be found here and here.

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