Kate's Tales of Books and Bands

Last week I had no round-up because of home renovation pressure, and in what is a surprise to no one, this weekend I am still renovating, and the pressure is greater because the first family arrives tomorrow (just my oldest son, home from college, so not huge pressure on his account), but then my mother come on Tuesday, and I care more about making the house feel welcoming, and showing what a competent person I am, living my beautiful, happy life...it makes her feel better (at least, I imagine it would make her feel better if she ever thought this....).  No one arriving at the house today would think it a welcoming home, and indeed they would join me in questioning my choices. But next Sunday it will be too late to do anything about anything, so come back then for your weekly fix of mg sci fi/fantasy goodness! And in the meantime, registration for Kidlitcon 2020 is now open!  The program is still in progress, but is already looking great!  If' you're interested in being a...

I'm in the those of home renovation, which has to be finished before my mother comes for Thanksgiving, so don't have time for a round-up today.  I hope it will be done by next Sunday so the round-up can happen then! I'm also going to an event today-- a middle grade STEAM sci-fi panel , at An Unlikely Story just up the road from me (if you aren't from RI, otherwise practically a day trip) in Plainville MA.  It looks like lots of fun!

The Last Human , by Lee Bacon (middle grade, Abrams, Oct 8, 2019), is set in a future in which robots exterminated humanity to save the earth from environmental destruction.  Now the robots live peaceful lives, carrying out their duties, and every day the President reminds them via its universally shared messages just how horrible humans were, and how good robots always do what they are supposed to do (which includes never keeping secrets). 12-year-old XR_935 is a good robot, working with his team-mates to install and maintain solar panels every day, then going home to their family units to recharge.  Each has a role--Ceeron is the brawn of the group, lifting and carrying, zippy little SkD is the electrical engineer, and XR-935 is the analytical one, making sure all the numbers work.  Then one day their peaceful lives are disrupted when an Unknown Lifeform comes into the solar field where they are working. It is an unthinkable lifeform, a human girl called Emma.  Em...

Bone Talk , by Candy Courlay (middle grade, David Fickling Books, November 5 2019 in the US), is set in the mountains of the Philippines in 1899.  Samkad is ten, on the verge of become officially recognized as a man, and taking his place as a warrior of the Bontoc people, fighting their enemy, another mountain people,  on and off as they have for generations.  His best friend Luki also wants to be a warrior, but she's a girl, and that's not the role awaiting her.   The ancestors are close at hand, giving guidance and protection, the rice grows well, and the world seems to be working as it should. Then the world changes.  An American arrives, with a boy originally from Samkad's village, who grew up in the lowlands.  The man is friendly, sharing knowledge of his strange country and its customs.   But other Americans have come to the Philippines too, bringing war, and they too come to the village.   They are not friends, and Samkad's passage from chi...

Welcome to this week's round-up, and please let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews City of Ghosts, by Victoria Schwab, at Hidden in Pages The Darkdeep, by Ally Condy and Brendan Reichs, at Hidden in Pages A Dash of Trouble (Love Sugar Magic #1), by Anna Meriano, at Imaginary Friends The Dragon Warrior, by Katy Zhao, at Ms. Yingling Reads The Edge of the World (Mightier than the Sword #2), by Drew Callander and Alana Harrison, at Feed Your Fiction Addiction , A Garden of Books , and Always in the Middle The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, by Jaclyn Moriarty, at alibrarymama The Forgotten Girl, by India Hill Brown, at Ms. Yingling Reads Frostheart, by Jamie Littler, at Book Craic The Griffins of Castle Cary, by Heather Shumaker, at Geo Librarian Grimworld, by Avery Moray, at Becca Leighanne The Hound of Rowan, by Henry Neff, at Say What? The Lifters, by Dave Eggers, at The Comfort Table ), The Other Side of the Wall (Castle in the Mist #3) by Amy Eph...

Throwback , by Peter Lerangis (HarperCollins, October 2019), is a riveting middle grade time travel story about a kid who can change the past. Corey is used to being told he has an active imagination, and he used to noticing odd things, so when he sees an old picture in his friend Leila's house, and finds himself in what seems to be New York 100 years in the past, he thinks it's just part of the movie he knows is being filmed in his neighborhood.  Or possibly a hallucination.  It's not, though.   Corey's actually travelled though time.  And he is one of a very small group who can actually change things in the past. His grandfather is also a time traveler, who can't change things.  He tells Corey how he's gone, over and over again, back to 9/11, to try to keep his wife from going to work in the World Trade Center that day.  And of course, when Corey's talent emerges, the possibility that he might be able to save her occurs to them both....the possibility tha...

Welcome to this week's round-up; please let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews The Thousand Year Old Boy, by Ross Welford, at Ms. Yingling Reads The Black Cauldron, by Lloyd Alexander, at Say What? The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup, at Say What? Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Abby the Librarian Doll Bones, by Holly Black, at A Garden of Books (audiobook review) The Double Helix (Explorer Academy #3), by Trudy Truit, at Always in the Middle The Dragon Thief, by Zetta Elliott, at Middle Grade Book Village and Charlotte's Library The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Hit or Miss Books Dragons in a Bag, by Zetta Elliott, at Middle Grade Book Village The Fire Keeper, by J.C. Cervantes, at Feed Your Fiction Additiction The Ghouls of Howlfair, by Nick Tomlinson, at Book Craic Grimworld, by Avery Moray, at Jazzy Book Reviews The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper, at Mom Read It The Impossible Boy, by Ben Brooks, at Book Craic Music Boxes, b...

Rose Coffin , by M.P. Kozlowsky (Scholastic October 2019), is a fun middle grade portal fantasy with a very interesting twist! Rose is going through a tough patch.  An accident has left her twin brother is in a coma, and her parents have little time and energy to spend on her.  At school she's teased for her too-small clothes, and for blushing all the time, and so when the popular SallyAnn encourages her to audition as a singer for her band, Rose is thrilled.  But the "audition" is simply an excuse to get Rose off alone in the woods, to humiliate her utterly and record it all to share in school. Rose can't make herself get on the school bus the next day.  Instead she takes off into the same woods, and her life is upended.  A walking tree person and a golden boy kidnap her, and take her into the magical realm of Eppersett, where she is hailed as the chosen one.  But don't role your eyes at this seeming cliché--in Rose's case, her bad luck continues, and bein...