DWJ March: The Game

Right before Witch Week, I squeezed in a reread of The Game. It's one of Diana's shorter novels and is a standalone. It follows Hayley, an orphan who has grown up with her kind but busy grandfather and her bossy and strict grandmother. She has a feeling that their family might be a bit different but doesn't learn exactly how different until she gets in trouble and is sent away. This is when she meets her aunts and her cousins and they invite her to play "The Game".

I didn't love this book when I read it in 2009 because it felt a bit too bare bones. Because it covers such a wide territory of gods, goddesses, myths and astrology, I just felt like there wasn't enough explanation to make it feel like a successful story -- especially for a kid/teen who would have even less background knowledge of these subjects than I do. I stand by that evaluation but I will also say that my reread was a success in that I do appreciate it more now and have a better opinion of it overall. It's a clever story and a fun read. It just also makes me want to take some sort of mythology course.

I still don't really like the freaky US cover shown above so I may go looking for the UK one below. It's more symbolic of the story and less like a police composite of what Hayley might look like.

Getting schooled in mythology,
K

DWJ March: Witch Week

The fourth tale in the Chrestomanci series, Witch Week is another reread for me that I just finished late last night. I liked it better than on first read but there are so many unlikable children and adults in it (almost all of them, in fact) that it's hard for me to say I loved it. I wouldn't want to spend much more time with any of these characters than I already had to! Chrestomanci is quite fabulous in it though -- better than in Magicians of Caprona. It makes me want to pick up Conrad's Fate, The Pinhoe Egg and Mixed Magics immediately.

This story is set in a world almost identical to ours except for one thing -- magic. The world is full of it and yet it is illegal and witches are burnt in bonfires, as they have been for over 400 years. Some of the students of 6B at Larwood House are witch orphans and so they are especially suspect. When a note slipped between exercise books insists that there is, in fact, a witch in 6B, students start accusing not only each other but also suspect their own selves of being witches. Unfortunately, the inquisitor is on his way and whoever gets caught out is going to get burned.

Coincidentally, BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast a radio play version of this story earlier this week. It's available to listen to worldwide for four more days so I wanted to share the link with you before it's too late. I'm listening as I write this and it's pretty good. The voices are a bit too pleasant for such unpleasant children but the plot is fairly intact. (Update: Chrestomanci's voice and character is ALL sorts of wrong. Just so you know before you listen. He doesn't sound suave or wonderful.) If you want a taste of Diana Wynne Jones, have a listen -- it's only 60 minutes long. It is a bit confusing that I just finished reading about class 6B though and in the radio play it's 2Y. But Wikipedia explains it like this --

It is interesting to note that, in almost every version of the book published, the class the story focuses on has a different name, according to the age group the publishers were aiming the book at the time. For instance:

• The current UK edition calls the class 3Y (which suggests they are in the third year of secondary school and therefore around thirteen).
• Another UK edition of the book, published by Collins in 2000, calls it 2Y (which suggests that they are in the second year of secondary school and therefore around twelve).
• The current U.S. edition calls it 6B (which implies the children are in the sixth grade and therefore about eleven).

If you're a fan of boarding school stories, you might want to try this one. I don't know if anyone has seen the show House of Anubis (on Nickelodeon in the US) but the radio play is reminding me a lot of that show -- a bit overdramatic and full of saucy British kids but still fun.

Enjoying a multimedia experience,
K

DWJ March: Dark Lord of Derkholm

Despite being made fun of for a few days for reading a book with such a high fantasy cover on it, I had a wonderful time with my reread of Dark Lord of Derkholm. This was one that I enjoyed but didn't love the first time through. It had a complex and quick-moving plot and a lot of characters and creatures in it. I think I was overwhelmed a lot of the time. And yet, as I thought about it over the past 3 1/2 years, I started appreciating it more and more and finally got excited for the time when I would be able to reread it. Well, now I have and I can honestly say that I was completely satisfied this time through.

Yes, this is pretty much a high fantasy novel but the main point of it is the family relationship between Derk, his wife Mara, and their children -- both human and griffin. Derk's special talent is the ability to make things grow, things being both plant and animal. He has many experimental animals in the yard--horses with wings, invisible cats (that might not be in the yard anymore), flying pigs and more--but only one of his creations was given human DNA and those are the griffins. When the world is threatened by a ruthless man from a parallel universe and his "Pilgrim Parties" into the realm, the entire family will have to come together to make things right. And they're not perfect--sometimes far from it--but even in the darkest times they can count on each other. And this is what I loved.

This book absolutely qualified for the Once Upon a Time Challenge and hopefully it will just be the start of a wonderful set of reads!

Taking the high (fantasy) road,
K

Spring Challenge: Once Upon A Time VI

Hooray! It's officially Spring which means it's time again for the Once Upon A Time Challenge!

From the intro post --

Wednesday, March 21st begins the sixth annual Once Upon a Time Challenge. This is a reading and viewing event that encompasses four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology, including the seemingly countless sub-genres and blending of genres that fall within this spectrum. The challenge continues through Tuesday, June 19th and allows for very minor (1 book only) participation as well as more immersion depending on your reading/viewing whims.

As I'm still knee-deep in Diana Wynne Jones month, I have a couple more reads that will qualify for both so I'll be signing up for

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time categories. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

My potential reads include, but are not limited to --

*Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
*The Game by Diana Wynne Jones
*Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones (read-along to begin in April -- stay tuned for a post!)
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (no, I've never read it!)
*Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (Carl is hosting a read-along in April)
*Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Carl is hosting a read-along in May)

*Starred titles are rereads. All of these books are on my shelves except for Mistborn and The Princess Bride.

I will also surely be reading some eligible books with Z so I'll definitely count those too. I'm assuming that this will be another over-achieving challenge for me but that's just part of why I love it so. ::grin::

Are you joining the challenge this year? What book(s) are you looking forward to reading this spring?

Planning another fantastic spring,
K

DWJ March: Enchanted Glass

"Professor" Andrew Hope inherits his grandfather's home but doesn't immediately realize (or rather, remember) that with it he also inherits a "field-of-care" -- a magical parcel of land containing his home and the local town. After the arrival of young Aidan, a runaway orphan who is being chased by mysterious and obviously evil beings, Andrew has to recall things he learned as a child and try to figure out how to protect this young boy and all of the citizens of Melstone from the shady Mr. Brown. Luckily, he will be helped by a whole host of characters in and around his house as he solves the mystery of the ancient glass window in his kitchen door and figures out what to do with an abundance of large vegetables.
I am tempted to say "if you only read one Diana Wynne Jones book, make it Enchanted Glass". I have a couple of reasons for this.

Reason One: This is a perfect example of Diana's style and talent. It's low fantasy (magic in a regular sort of world), has a mismatched family unit, incorporates an existing mythology--in this case, the fairy world of Oberon, Titania and Mab--and has a spontaneous romance. It has good pacing with only a bit of a rushed ending.

Reason Two: It's a stand-alone novel so you don't have to commit to a series.

Reason Three: It's fun and exciting and I love it. Plus, the UK cover (shown above) is really, really pretty.

I read and adored this book when it came out in June 2010. If you haven't had the chance to read it yet, don't wait any longer. You have nine more days of Diana Wynne Jones month left!

Summoning all my powers of persuasion,
K

Happy Spring! with Picture Books

I don't know why spring makes us want to pull out picture books but I would guess it's because they're so bright and happy and so many of them are about nature and exploration. And these are a special bunch because they aren't from the U.S. so they are just a bit different than what we're seeing at our local library.

Pip the Gnome by Admar Kwant (an artist who lives in the Netherlands), is a gently drawn board book that takes a child through the four seasons, starting with spring. There is a surprising amount of detail in the drawings and a real sense of peace and oneness with nature. Z loves the page when Pip is catching leaves in the fall. I think my favorite thing about these drawings is that Pip has legs! I'm tired of the "garden gnome" with no knees. How would a creature like that even walk? Pip is an adorable little guy.

Wee Granny's Magic Bag, written by Elizabeth McKay and illustrated by Maria Bogade, is a Scottish picture book (as you can probably guess from the title and cover). Wee Granny is a marvelous woman who calls her two grandkids her "bonnie darlings" and has a tartan handbag that literally has everything in it but the kitchen sink. I so wish I could do a good Scottish accent for reading this one aloud but I don't think that it would work in my Sean Connery imitation. The book has great flow with many of the page turns revealing a surprise item emerging from Wee Granny's bag. Z screamed with delight when the item happened to be a donkey! The landscapes and dwellings are inviting and definitely Scottish and the grandkids have two different but equally gorgeous shades of ginger hair. And the website for the publisher (Picture Kelpies/Floris Books) continues the fun with a colouring page and some granny and dog jokes!

My Think-a-ma-Jink by Dave Whamond is from Owlkids Books in Canada. It's centered around a fairly simple and common idea -- that kids can come up with much better games and adventures through their own imaginations than by playing with predefined-action toys and games. But what sets this book apart are the fun and vivid illustrations of young Jack's imaginary lands and creatures. From aliens to dragons to a delicious-looking candy land, this book could definitely initiate some fun imaginings in young readers and have them asking for their own Think-a-ma-Jink.

Tom the Tamer by Tjibbe Veldkamp (Dutch), drawn by Philip Hopman (also Dutch),  is a very unique and wonderful book about Tom, a young boy whose father won't come out of the house because he's afraid of animals. This is unfortunate because Tom is an animal tamer who has tamed snails and squirrels in the yard and he wants his dad to see the show. But Tom has an idea for how to change his father's mind and it all starts with going to the local pet store and picking up an untamed polar bear. This book is absolutely brilliant! From the unconventional idea of a scared parent instead of a scared kid to the bright and detailed artwork, this is going to be a book that I start giving as a gift to 4-7 year olds.

The final book for today is The Umbrella by Ingrid & Deiter Schubert (German but living in Amsterdam). This is a wordless picture book about a small black dog who finds a red umbrella in the garden on a windy day. He travels all around the world, riding the wind, and has fun and sometimes harrowing adventures. When he finally returns home and sets the umbrella down, a curious cat can't help but take a peek at it. This book is really unique because it starts and ends on the endpapers. The drawings of all the animals around the world are very realistic and large in scope -- showing entire savannahs and underwater seascapes. Sometimes a wordless book is just what you're looking for and this would be a good one to choose!

Doing a bit of armchair travelling,

K and Z

DWJ March: Eight Days of Luke

I know you're all going to start questioning my truthfulness when I keep raving about every new Diana Wynne Jones book I read but I'm going to have to risk that. Eight Days of Luke is a fantastic book! With its roots in Norse mythology, this is a story about the gods among us and their occasional need for human assistance. In fact, if you thought American Gods was too dark or too harsh, you might want to try this book instead. Here's what Neil Gaiman had to say about the similarities --

... a few people want to know whether American Gods was inspired by Diana Wynne Jones’s novel “8 Days of Luke”. Not exactly, although they bear an odd relationship, like second cousins once removed or something. About six or seven years ago, I had an idea for a structure for a story, all about the gods and the days of the week. I chewed it and played with it and was terribly happy with it. And then the penny dropped, and I realised, gloomily, that I’d managed, working back from first principles, to come up with a wonderful structure for a story -- but one that Diana had already used, in her brilliant “8 Days of Luke.” So I put it down as one of those places where our heads went to the same sort of place (it happened with the nursery rhyme How Many Miles To Babylon, and in several other times and places) and, with regret, I abandoned it. Or almost. I kept Mr Wednesday, and the day of his meeting, in the back of my head, and when I came to put American Gods together, he was there, ready and waiting.

 Eight Days of Luke was published in 1975, the year I was born, but is a remarkably well-preserved story. I didn't feel that any part of it was dated at all. There are arcades and radio programs rather than video games and television but they didn't seem like something that couldn't exist naturally now. And the language seems surprisingly modern. A modern Brit might think differently but I can't speak to that! This is another story where Diana plays with family dynamics, especially dysfunctional ones, and in a very interesting way. David, the main character, is an orphan who is forced to constantly prove his "gratefulness" to his aunt and uncle and cousin who are caring for him. It is a rather revolting situation but also entirely believable. This book is just so well crafted that I enjoyed every minute of reading it. If you can find a copy (it's out of print in the U.S. right now), grab it. I'll be reading it again sooner than later.

Starting on Sunday,
K

DWJ March: The Magicians of Caprona

When I first read The Magicians of Caprona, I said that it wasn't as good as the first two Chrestomanci stories. I take that back. This is a classic Diana Wynne Jones tale and I really enjoyed it on second read. I think my first judgment was because I had just fallen in love with a handsome enchanter and wanted to keep reading about him and, sadly, he only makes a brief appearance in this story. But, being in a different frame of mind this time, I was able to just focus on the story and it was fun!

Tonino is the youngest son of Antonio Montana. His magical family lives in Caprona, a state in an alternate-universe never-unified Italy. Also there is the Petrocchi family, the other strong magical family of the land. The two spell-houses hold the city together but they hate each other due to a decades-old feud. Unfortunately, their feud makes each house weaker and more vulnerable to an evil enchanter who has decided to destroy Caprona. Unless they come together, they can never complete the task that Chrestomanci has set for them -- to find the true words to the powerful hymn, "The Angel of Caprona".

With hints of a Montague/Capulet type-feud and a lot of magic, this is simply an exciting tale. The writing was so vivid that I could picture the entire story clearly in my head. In fact, I think it would make a great Miyazaki-style animated film. It's too bad that he's wrapping up his film career now.

I'm so glad I gave this story a second chance. Of course, it's getting harder now to rank my favorite DWJ stories because it's no longer clear which ones I like least!

Singing a hymn of magic and joy,
K