Izzy Wong's Nose for News

Written by Marty Chan

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-3937-3

208 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2024

 

Twelve-year-old Izzy Wong may have a nose for news, but she has to make sure she's not putting her nose where it doesn't belong or sniffing out a story that isn't there. She may aspire to be the next Sarah Koenig and make her journalist/news-anchor mom proud of her, but Izzy Wong still has a lot of learning to do. After all, she is only in Grade 6.

 

Izzy may not be popular, but she loves reporting news from the school and interviewing her classmates about tests and other school happenings for her podcast. They might not like being questioned but Izzy doesn't let that deter her. But when she learns that the third-floor girls' bathroom flooded over the weekend and has caused much damage to classrooms and the library, Izzy thinks she's got a fabulous podcast story in solving the mystery of how it happened. 

But Izzy is still a novice at interviewing and pursuing a story. She gets useful advice from her mom how to keep herself from starting rumours and making herself part of the story, but she doesn't always follow the advice or heed the warnings of her teachers or principal. Instead, she begins speculating that Doyle McTaggert, a sixth-grade prankster, may have been behind stuffing paper towels in the toilets. With that leading her, Izzy begins seeing things that make Doyle look guilty and, without intending to do so, she starts gossip about her classmates. How is she going to get to the bottom of this mystery without making everyone hate her or clouding her investigation with rumours?

While a flooding in a school bathroom may not be the mystery of the century, it is a big deal in an elementary school where bathrooms are places of chatter and refuge. And when classrooms and staff are impacted–from the massive clean-up and ruined school equipment and furniture–it is a very big deal and mystery that the authorities want solved, although perhaps not how Izzy goes about it. But author Marty Chan makes Izzy a believable character who is determined to do something, although her passion is not always embedded in common sense or the sound judgement of her elders. She's eager but impetuous and she takes missteps that she sometimes should walk back but doesn't. In other words, she's a kid who is learning from her mistakes and by doing her best, even if it isn't always right. Fortunately, Marty Chan lets Izzy grow into her journalistic skills and herself, learning some sensitivity from her missteps and some wisdom from her peers and elders about the consequences of her actions. At least she learns. And she solves a mystery that wouldn't have been uncovered without her diligence in pursuing a story. Izzy may have been distracted by the whiff of stories of romance and revenge but, in the end, she got to the heart of the matter and matured as an investigative reporter.

Fifteen Point Nine

Written by Holly Dobbie
DCB
978-1-77086-523-5
240 pp.
Ages 13+
June 2018

The bullying that fifteen-year-old Agatha Murphy and others endure at the hands of “Those Girls” and the “Idiot Boys” who follow them around is physical, degrading and unconscionable.  They only see that Susan is overweight, that Carson is very small, that Travis is highly intelligent, and that Nicole has sweat issues. But it’s Aggie’s countless issues that are at the heart of Fifteen Point Nine. Aggie’s mother Jane is a paranoid alcoholic who scavenges and hoards and is oblivious to her daughter’s needs for food, clean clothes, and even a functional washroom. The bullies may ridicule Aggie for being dirty and smelling, as well as rummaging for food, but they and everyone else, including the school, doesn’t know about her mother and Aggie’s need to self-harm to relieve her anxiety and despair. Aggie may lighten that despair with barbed monikers including “The Torture Chamber” for school and “The Dump” for home, by ranking potential moments on her Official Romantic Scale, and by imagining outrageous scenarios that would whisk her away, but Aggie knows her situation is becoming intolerable.

I’m going to try to be more of a human being and less of a rodent, although it’s obviously something that I’m not very good at. (pg. 14)

In an attempt to take some control, Aggie decides to use an old camcorder to document the bullying in all its visual and audio horror. Unexpectedly, Susan becomes an ally in Aggie’s video endeavour, as do Carson, Travis and Nicole. These teens, deemed misfits by their cruel peers, become the Warriors Video Club and resolve to expose the bullies.

While Aggie continues to suffer at the hands of her horrid mother and the bullies, there are unexpected glimmers of something better, including  kindness from a school janitor and several moms, some Johnny Cash-infused wisdom from Jane’s newest suitor,

"Pain ain’t no good thing. Aint’t nobody out there gonna hand you a prize for storin’ shit in your heart.” (pg. 185)

and, most importantly, notes from an anonymous boy who wants her to attend the Winter Solstice Carnival dance. But, when a classmate commits suicide, Aggie’s perspective on survival and taking charge is put to the test.

Fifteen Point Nine may be Holly Dobbie’s debut novel but her teaching experiences with teens have served her well in telling the story convincingly. For those living through bullying, parental neglect, suicide of a peer and dejection, the authenticity of Fifteen Point Nine will hit hard, particularly in its harshness and near hopelessness. Still, Holly Dobbie makes it clear that, for those who do suffer at the hands of others, every day of survival is a victory and making it past fifteen point nine (just less than sixteen years of age) is a triumph.


(A version of this review was originally written for and published in Quill & Quire, as noted in the citation below.)

Kubiw, H. (2018, September). [Review of the book Fifteen Point Nine, by Holly Dobbie]. Quill & Quire, 84 (7): 37.

Burned, Exposed, Unleashed: Retribution series

But each of us had taken on the responsibility of protecting or avenging those few who had become dear to us.  Willing to risk our lives to see justice done.  We were all so different and yet so much the same. (Exposed, pg. 86)

Three teens: Josie, Raven and Jace.  Three injustices needing to be righted.  One series.  Retribution.

Exposed
by Judith Graves
Orca Book Publishers
978-1-4598-0726-6
137 pp.
Ages 12+
October 2015

Although the three books in the series can be read in any order–I read Unleashed first, then Burned and Exposed–and my image shows the books in alphabetical order,  I’d like to start with Judith Graves’ contribution to the series, Exposed.  Exposed is Raven’s story.  Raven, who has left the home of her meth-addicted parents, has found a new family working with other young people as an urban climber getting into high-end, secure car parkades to steal cars for Diesel.  And climbing is a release for her.

From here all my worries seemed smaller, so small they could be tucked away in my pocket and forgotten, like empty candy wrappers that would someday just slip away unnoticed.  (pg. 32)

Raven anticipates leaving this life when she turns 16 in a few weeks, diligently going to school and secretly saving her money and purchasing a houseboat for herself, and, to that end, Diesel has her training a younger climber Supersize.  But when Diesel sets up Supersize before he’s ready to lead a team and tragedy ensues, Raven is determined to get even with Diesel.

Burned
by Natasha Deen
Orca Book Publishers
978-1-4598-0726-6
161 pp.
Ages 12+
October 2015

While scouting out cars to steal, she meets Josie, the main character in Natasha Deen’s Burned. Jo has been on the streets for two years and has learned the way to survive is to trust no one, show no fear and that “hope is just another way to spell dead” (pg. 26).  But, though Josie has found a way to make herself useful,  scouting security leaks for a family grocer, helping stock shelves at a community kitchen, and painting art forgeries, she’s still looking for retribution against the woman responsible for the deaths of her mother and younger siblings.  Josie is out to

Burn her with the same heat she used to set my life on fire, and the orange red flames that scorched the breath from my family will cauterize her soul. (pg. 3)

Josie is out to prove this woman cop shot her family and another young woman, but she needs the help of  ATM Guy whom she spots using his tech skills to steal money at the family grocer.  When she approaches him to try to get evidence from the cop’s laptop, she learns that his name is Bentley and his brother is Jace, whom she refers to as Boxer Boy because of his physique, and so the third protagonist is introduced.

Unleashed
by Sigmund Brouwer
Orca Book Publishers
978-1-4598-0726-6
160 pp.
Ages 12+
October 2015

Jace, Sigmund Brouwer’s protagonist in Unleashed, leads a double life: one as a boxer slumming it at Billy’s gym, and one as the preppie, chess-playing son of disgustingly wealthy and emotionally-abusive Dr. Winchester Wyatt.

Life, to me, was a combination of chess and boxing.  You had to think everything through a couple of moves ahead and also be prepared to pound hard and often. (pg. 107)

Jace  is determined to get something on his father, especially because of the  horrific way he treats Jace’s tech-brilliant younger brother, Bentley, who was born with Laron syndrome which manifests as dwarfism.  Though he enlists a private detective and then Raven and Josie’s help to learn of some scandal in Winchester’s medical background, Jace has major trust issues and has to find a way to determine whom he can expect to be forthcoming and cooperative without taking advantage of his wealth.

The stories in Retribution are complex and intricate and the plot and characters interlaced in sophisticated weaves.  Writing the books must have been a complicated process for Judith Graves, Natasha Deen and Sigmund Brouwer.  But, the three authors stepped up, pen or laptops in hand, and were able to create a coordinated story with multiple plotlines while keeping their own writing voices unique and distinct.  That’s quite an accomplishment, especially for high-interest YA told in about 150 pages each. And, in the end, I believe that, though Raven, Jo and Jace are involved in less-than-legal schemes to get retribution, readers will admire their determination to seek justice.

I stopped thinking about my sorrows and focused on something else. Infinite possibilities. (Unleashed, pg. 160)

I’m hopeful that Jo, Raven, Jace and Bentley will continue to be that irrepressible team that is “living in the shadows, dispensing their own kind of justice” (Unleashed, pg. 156) and I look forward to their next quests for retribution.

†  †  †  †  †  †  †  †  

Remember: Orca Book Publishers has a contest on until November 30, 2015 (see my post about it here).  It's all about those infinite possibilities.

Retribution: Trilogy and Contest

A new, young adult, high-interest series

from Orca Book Publishers

Retribution

is just out 

and 

there's a contest!

The three books in the series,

which can be read in any order,

focus on three teens who come together to get Retribution

for the misdeeds, crimes others have committed against them and those they love and want to protect

"Tarnished warriors out to take on the big bads with a bit of beauty, brawn and brains." 

(from Exposed, by Judith Graves, pg. 87)

Burned
by Natasha Deen
Orca Book Publishers
978-1-4598-0726-6
161 pp.
Ages 12-17
2015

Exposed

by Judith Graves

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-0726-6

137 pp.

Ages 12-17

2015

Unleashed

by Sigmund Brouwer

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-0726-6

160 pp.

Ages 12-17

2015

And here's the contest:

Contest runs from October 13 to November 30, 2015

I just finished all three books, which I will review shortly,
and know it's worth entering the contest
for that $100 gift card you can use
 for the books in the Retribution series or for any of Orca's publications

Good luck!

Thrice Burned: A Portia Adams Adventure

Atlantic Canadian publisher Fierce Ink Press has generously included me in the blog tour Blog on Fire for the release of Angela Misri's sequel Portia Adams Adventure, Thrice Burned.  Please check out additional blog posts at Fierce Ink Press. And, for those of you who have forgotten the deals of Portia Adam's first cases, read my review of Jewel of the Thames and get some additional background from my interview with Angela Misri at the time of its release.

Thrice Burned 

A Portia Adams Adventure

Written by Angela Misri

Fierce Ink Press
978-1927746691
281 pp.
Ages 12+
For release March 24, 2015
Reviewed from advance reading copy ePub

The shocking revelation at the conclusion of Jewel of the Thames (Fierce Ink Press, 2014) that her grandparents on her father's side are ex-criminal Irene Adler–currently known as Irene Jones–and Sherlock Holmes may have hit Miss Portia Adams hard but she won't let it distract her from her law studies at Somerville College or from honing her detection skills.  She continues her lessons in self-defense from Bruiser Jenkins, and studying alongside Chief Inspector Archer of Scotland Yard.  But she's also learning more about London's landscape, both topographical and invisible, and about lie detection from the formidable lawyer Mr. Ian Meyers.  Having established her own group of Irregulars, street children whom she pays with money, food and treats, Portia undertakes three new cases, Casebooks Five through Seven : Thrice Burned, Box 850*, and Truth Be Told.

In Casebook Five, arsons at three different locations, but with no damage to adjoining buildings, have Portia making the acquaintance of Miss Anne Coleson, a reporter looking to salvage a marred reputation and earn a living to care for her younger siblings.  While Portia is reluctant to oblige, she begins to see some positives to Annie's proposal, especially once Annie becomes romantically involved with Constable Brian Dawes, a young man for whom Portia has romantic feelings.  Ultimately the two women work together somewhat to solve the perplexing arsons, though it is truly Portia with her sharp mind and doggedness who brings the criminals to justice.  And all that while she tries to balance her affections for Brian, the intriguing forensic scientist Dr. Whitaker, and her grandmother's choice of suitor, Dr. Beanstine, coroner and a lord's son.

While the title Thrice Burned does refer to the trio of arsons in which Portia becomes involved in solving, it can also refer to the multitude of circumstances by which her own reputation is injured, through antagonism, humiliation, disappointment and revelation.  Of course, the criminals whose crimes Portia reveals are always a potential threat to her, but the involvement of a reporter, Mr. Dick McGregor, whose fabricated and outlandish stories refer to her and her activities without any veracity, leads to endangering her work and privacy.  Though she has allowed Annie Coleson to refer to her activities as those of Consulting Detective P.C. Adams–without any reference to her gender or ancestry–McGregor puts Portia's actions into question with the police who begin to believe that Portia is taking credit for their work. Fortunately, the support of Brian Dawes, Chief Inspector Archer and Sergeant Michaels helps to right those incorrect insinuations.

In Casebook Six, Angela Misri effortlessly takes Portia into the darkness, that occasionally enveloped her grandfather Holmes, when flummoxed with a case of potential theft, an antagonistic British Secret Intelligence Service agent and her affections for Brian Dawes. 

"This is not an ordinary ennui, Portia.  The excitement and adrenaline of a case–a really engaging, difficult case–that was the high.  The solution and then the time between that and the next exciting case...that was the low.  And for Sherlock, the high was higher than anything else in his life, and, therefore, so was the low." (pg. 150)

Regardless of the complexity of the Box 850 case and the subsequent case involving the disappearance of women of ill-repute upon their public damnation at the Matfelon Church, Portia is able to focus her detection skills on solving the mysteries with scientific elegance.  Though struggling with amorous feelings with which she is wholly unfamiliar, Portia conducts her sleuthing with the eye for details and labyrinthine problem-solving of one grandfather i.e., Sherlock Holmes, and the humanity of the other, Dr. Watson. Angela Misri has created Portia Adams to be a true incarnation of the great detective and his friend and biographer, while ensuring the Canadian consulting detective is wholly her own person too.

Reading A Portia Adams Adventure, whether it be Jewel of the Thames or Thrice Burned, is like revisiting the writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Just as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle often chose to recount several of Sherlock Holmes' cases in a single tome, Angela Misri follows suit, extending the authentic and complementary nature of the series to those of the famous detective.  Thrice Burned is like having new Sherlock Holmes mysteries to read, only now starring an inquisitive and astute young woman (without the Asperger's Syndrome tendencies) and in a London of the 1930s.  And it works so, so well.  Elementary, wouldn't you say?

The Blind Boy and the Loon

by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril

Illustrated by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Daniel Gies

Inhabit Media

978-1-927095-57-7

48 pp.

Ages 6-10

2014

Alethea Arnaquq-Baril makes it clear from her preface that the story of The Blind Boy and the Loon, first developed into her film Lumaajuuq (National Film Board of Canada, 2010), is both just a small part of an epic story told by her Inuit elders and simply her version, with its mistakes and omissions, "which our elders would never have committed." (pg. 3) Honouring their telling of the story, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril has compressed it into just a few minutes of film and a mere 48 pages of impressive text and illustration to tell a story of cruelty and revenge and the origin of the narwhal.

Living with his sister and mother in the far north, a blind boy endures his mother's resentment and cruelty. With the return of spring, he gets his sister to lead him to the lake to visit with the loon, a creature with formidable eyesight.  In addition to learning that his mother was responsible for causing his blindness, the boy regains his eyesight after repeated divings into the lake on the loon's back. Fully-sighted again, the boy resumes whale-hunting and uses an outing to exact revenge on his mother, whose plunge into the water turns her into the narwhal, her braids twisted into its characteristic tusk.

The dark tale within The Blind Boy and the Loon is nurtured by the highly-stylized elements of the illustrations, from the simple lines of the boy in his parka, to the hills and waters of the harsh landscape. Using shades and tones of greys, dark teal and taupe,  The Blind Boy and the Loon is rich with uncompromising elements of unkindness, deep waters, and expansive tundra, all essential in supporting the story within.  While Alethea Arnaquq-Baril may undervalue the content or interpretation of her telling of this origin tale, The Blind Boy and the Loon is an accomplished and breath-taking rendition.

If you want to see the animation of the stunning beauty that is The Blind Boy and the Loon, sneak a look at the original short film Lumaajuuq (National Film Board of Canada, 2010) upon which the picture book is based.  You will not be disappointed, but rather stunned by the starkness of its richness.

Bone, Fog, Ash & Star: The Last Days of Tian Di, Book Three

Written by Catherine Egan

Coteau Books

978-1-55050-593-1 (pbk)

978-1-55050-594-8 (pdf)

312 pp.

Ages 9+

For release October 2014

When Catherine Egan began her high fantasy series The Last Days of Tian Di with Shade &Sorceress (Coteau, 2012), everything was new to twelve-year-old Eliza Tok: who: learns she is the Shang Sorceress, as were her mother and grandmother; discovers her Magic; clashes with the Nia, the entrapped Xia Sorceress; befriends Charlie, the shape-shifting Shade; and connects with Faeries, Mancers, Witches, Cra, Dragons,and other assorted characters.

Now turning 16, Eliza continues to study Magic with the Mancer Foss in the Great Sand Sea, the home of her father's people, the Sorma. After The Unmaking (Coteau, 2013), Eliza is loathe to have any part of the Mancers at the Citadel, most especially Kyreth whose aim has been to control her and her powers. Unfortunately, Kyreth has other plans, including sending fog-like assassins, the Thanatosi, to murder Charlie and force Eliza back to the Citadel, where he would orchestrate her marriage to a Mancer and ensure an heir, a new Shang Sorceress.

To keep Charlie safe (though he has now lost his ability to shape shift), Foss and Eliza take him and Nell to the Realm of the Faeries where Jalo, a Faery smitten with Nell, gives them sanctuary. Too bad Jalo's mother, Tariro, hates humans and is determined to murder Nell to keep her son away from her.

Foss and Eliza return to the Citadel, with Eliza ready to take on the war they've chosen with her.  Even with a new Supreme Mancer, Aysu, Eliza realizes that Kyreth is still at work.  Exploring, she discovers her grandmother and Kyreth's wife, Selva, alive but under a Curse. Granddaughter and grandmother help each other and Eliza is sent to gather the Four Gifts of the Ancients, the Gehemmis, one of which Selva had been stealing when cursed.

So begins Eliza's newest quest, to retrieve the four Gehemmis and learn of the Magic contained within, and to find her future, wherever or with whomever it may rest.

If Shade and Sorceress is all about newness, and The Unmaking looking deeper into those that appear to be good or evil, then Bone, Fog, Ash & Star is about loss.  It's about making choices that may cause pain to others or heartbreak to one's self, that may confuse or antagonize those who are your allies, and may result in turning one's back on the innocence and trust of youth.  While Eliza grows into herself as a Shang Sorceress, finally recognizing the Magic she can accomplish and the hard choices she must make, she has lost some of the wonder of her youth, the wonder that allowed her to share in new worlds wholeheartedly, regardless of the possible dangers.

"You don't remember the loss, not exactly, but you cling to those you love with such ferocity, you would die for them, because the memory of the first loss is buried within you, and it defines you." (pg. 240)

Nia may be pointing out Eliza's loss but others in Bone, Fog, Ash & Star will undergo similar experiences, ranging from small sacrifices and mishaps to life-altering ruin and the ultimate loss, death.  Nell, who'd been amazed at the grandeur of the Faery Realm's Illusions, begins to lose some of her wonder of the supernatural. Charlie, who loses that which defined him as a Shade, must find a way to reconcile that loss with what is left for him to be.  There's the Blind Enchanter who gave up his sight and song for seeing the Sparkling Deluder. And Rea, Eliza's mother, who gave up and still gives something important up to be with her husband.  Loss is the substance of life. It is only luck that keeps it at bay as long as possible. Or the pen of a true spellbinder, like Catherine Egan.

Though Catherine Egan does provide a short epilogue with a joyous scene to close The Last Days of Tian Di, the reader will also feel a great loss. It's inevitable. We've followed and cheered for Eliza, afraid for her goodness and choices, and longing for the love she feels to be realized.  After travelling alongside this young Shang Sorceress and woman through three epic volumes, we can only hope that her unwritten life is as prodigious as this written one has been.  For that, we can only thank Catherine Egan for the courtesy she has extended to us in sharing it.

*  *  *  *  * *  *
Check in tomorrow when CanLit for LittleCanadians welcomes author Catherine Egan for a guest post about villains titled, "Isn't he scary?  Isn't he beautiful?"

Now you have to read the whole series, don't you think?

Brothers at War

by Don Cummer

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-1382-3 

204 pp.

Ages 8-14

October, 2013

There are many divisions in twelve-year-old Jacob Gibson's Upper Canada in 1811.  There are the towners and the dockers; the supporters of the Americans and of the British; those who have and those who have not pledged allegiance to the King; entitled, rich boys like William Dunwoody II and his best friend Henry Ecker and the regular boys like Jake and his friend Eli; the Iroquois and the British subjects of Upper Canada; and those itching to get to war and those opposed to it.  Sometimes the lines blur between the groups but most people differentiate themselves from others based on some criteria or another.

When Jake Gibson meets new boy Eli McCabe, son of the new tanner from America, he accepts him readily, especially after Eli helps him from a fall into a ditch during a snowball fight and then later from the frigid Niagara River when challenged by William and Henry.  Of course, Eli confirms the gossip that his father will not swear allegiance to King George, only coming to Upper Canada to be left alone and not deal in politics.  Now the McCabe family may be evicted from the Canadas.  And though William and Henry are relentless in their harrassment of Eli, calling him Turd Boy and pulling vicious pranks to make him look suspicious of vandalism and mischief, Jake and Eli are brought closer together, becoming blood brothers and determined to stand up to the menacing duo.  Sadly, with the dissolution of the Assembly by General Brock and the subsequent elections, coupled with the talk of war between across the Niagara River, Jake and Eli's friendship is tested and loyalty questioned.

Predictably, Upper Canada in 1811-1812 was no less corrupt than some political regions in Canada today.  There are those with wealth who happily use their money to corrupt others and the electoral process, without any concern for the rights and freedoms of all.  And though there are many who are forthcoming and demonstrate much integrity, the unscrupulous ones first must be challenged and blocked. Don Cummer has written a credible story of two boys whose friendship both spans their different worlds and resists that separation. Though it is difficult to always know the appropriate action when balancing friendship and country, Mr. Willcocks who publishes the Upper Canada Guardian advises Jacob,

"Stay close to your friends.  Protect them and keep them out of trouble.  No matter how difficult that may be at times.  In the end, they will thank you." (pg. 134)

This is wise advice, particularly as the War of 1812 will still not have begun at the conclusion of Brothers at War.  But the boys will need to wrestle with their loyalties to their families and their friendship, as well as to their own evolving politics, and fight themselves and each other when dealing with extraordinary circumstances that put those for whom they care in jeopardy. They are indeed brothers at war.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

I came across this quirky video titled Don Cummer arrested for Brothers at War on YouTube and thought readers might enjoy a chuckle as Don Cummer, the author of Brothers at War, attempts to sell copies of his book and is challenged by Mr. Joe Willcocks.  Luckily, the ending indicates that books are good for everything!

 Don Cummer arrested for Brothers at War

Uploaded by Don Cummer on November 2, 2013 to YouTube.

The Unmaking: The Last Days of Tian Di, Book Two

Written by Catherine Egan

Coteau Books

978-1-55050-559-7

248 pp.

Ages 9+

September, 2013

Epic. That's what The Unmaking, Catherine Egan's sequel to Shade and Sorceress, the first book in her The Last Days of Tian Di series, is.  Epic. When I reviewed Shade and Sorceress (here) over a year ago, I knew that I was reading something special.  I compared it to Harry Potter.  The Unmaking is even stronger: in its writing, its plotting, its ability to snatch the reader away from reality and deliver him or her to a land of magic, curses, faeries, dragons, sorceresses, wizards, shape-shifters, and ordinary humans.  Hold on for a fantasy ride like no other.

When Shade and Sorceress ended, Eliza was still being schooled as the next Shang Sorceress by her grandfather Kyreth and the other Mancers at the Citadel.  Her mother, Rea, the former Shang Sorceress, has returned, without any memory, and lives with Eliza's father, Rok, with his people, the Sorma. And although Nia, the evil Xia Sorceress, got her hands on the Book of Barriers, she is still trapped in her Arctic prison. Or she was. Now she's out for revenge.

Not surprising that Nia seeks out the Triumvira, consisting of the Oracle of the Ancients, the King of Faeries and Swarn, the Warrior Witch, who had banished Nia to her prison. But her revenge also includes Kyreth, revealing her previously unknown relationship to the Supreme Mancer. (You'll need to read the book for that detail!)  Having been visiting first Swarn to learn of potions, forging weapons and deflecting barrier, and then the Oracle, Eliza returns to the Citadel to find the Mancers turned to stone and Nia releasing a hideous creature of her own Making (an Ancient power).  Nia's monster, created from the finger she sliced from Rea's hand, is a formidable foe, and Eliza must find a way of neutralizing it before it goes after her mother.

Sadly, Charlie, Eliza's Shade companion, is seriously injured and Nell, Eliza's human friend, enlists the help of the helicopter-flying police constable, Ander, to deliver him to the Cave of Healing.  In Tian Xia, they find the evidence of Nia's revenge: Swarn's house burning, slaughtered dragons, and the ruins of the temples of the Faithful.  They also make the acquaintance of a Faery, Jalo, who has been sent by the King of Faeries to retrieve the Oracle and Swarn to protect them from the Xia Sorceress.

But, Nia is already moving onto the Realm of the Faeries, intent on destroying Malferio, their King and her former consort. Because of the King's purges of his subjects and his dastardly deeds against others, including his current Queen, Nia is able to convince others to assist in overthrowing him.

It must be a faery illusion that Catherine Egan manages to squeeze a tale of such epic proportions into a mere 268 pages. My bare bones synopsis here doesn't even mention Eliza working with a wizard who is cursed to forget everything he knows every 29 minutes; the baby dragon that Nell is relentless about saving; Jalo's manipulative mother who worries about her son's interest in Nell; and Swarn's battle with Nia in the Hall of the Ancients.

The battle of good vs. evil may be the foundation of The Unmaking but there are so many layers of skirmishes and antagonisms as well as alliances and allegiances that enrich that theme, not the least of which is the question of who is bad or good.  As the story develops, beyond even those few layers, so too do the motives of the characters, transformed with new experiences and revelations.

There are not enough words to provide a complete review of Catherine Egan's The Unmaking.  When you enjoy it, you'll understand my failing here.  Epic is still the best descriptor.

Swift

Written by R. J. Anderson
Orchard Books
978-1408312636
368 pp.
Ages 11-15
2012

When the piskeys of the Delve leave their below-ground home (built into an abandoned human mine) for the Lighting celebrations on the surface, it is a time of frivolity, feasting, storytelling and music.  It is the same for ten-year-old Ivy except that, unlike the other female piskeys, she was born without wings, and must make the arduous journey through the tunnels with her mother, Marigold, to reach the surface.  But, when her mother disappears that night, surely kidnapped by the legendary evil spriggans, life in the Delve will never be the same for Ivy, her young sister Cicely, her hunter older brother, and father Flint, a miner.

Five years later, at Cicely's first Lighting, a piskey-boy, Keev, goes missing and a spriggan is captured and jailed.  Ivy helps the spriggan, who is actually a faery she calls Richard, once she learns that he was sent by her mother Marigold.  She agrees to help him escape if he teaches her to shape change into a bird so that she might fly. But when Cicely disappears, Ivy declines to go with Richard so that she may search for her sister, albeit in swift form.  Injured during her search, Ivy is rescued by Richard who takes her to hide at the home of his human friend, Molly, a young girl who loves everything faery. In fact, when Richard goes missing, it is Molly who takes Ivy to Truro to find her mother.

What should be a wonderful reunion with Marigold is clouded with the unsettling truths her mother shares with Ivy regarding the history of the piskeys, faeries and spriggans, about Ivy's own heritage, and the dangers afflicting the Delve.  Confused as to what recourse she has, Ivy becomes even more enmeshed in the human-faery world when she purchases a clay sculpture of a faery that she is convinced has Richard trapped within.  Determined to help Richard, find Cicely, and return to the Delve to ensure the survival of the piskeys, Ivy must manage to understand the machinations of the human world, the trickery of a faery plotting revenge and the inclinations of the piskeys and her family from whom she fled.

Swift is a fantastical adventure of mesmerizing proportions, from the tiniest of piskey and faery to the legendary spriggans and large, unfamiliar humans, everyone has an agenda, selfish or otherwise, governed by the truths they believe and the affections and resentments they harbour. The plot twists and turns with new revelations and discoveries, mostly surprising, taking Ivy from the sheltered Delve to a larger world of duplicitous entities and strange circumstances, and then back to her endangered homeland.  R. J. Anderson deftly creates a world of fantasy in Swift, taking the reader effortlessly from the below-ground tunnels and nooks of the Delve, to the flight arenas of the swifts and other birds, all visually tangible.  And she draws her readers in, promising answers to questions of family loyalty, community, and self-awareness, while teaching that the answers are actually within us all the time. 

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The sequel to Swift is slated to be named Nomad, and is tentatively scheduled for release in early 2014 from Orchard Books.

Wicked Sweet

by Mar'ce Merrell

Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan imprint)

978-0-312-60749-4

330 pp.

Ages 14-18

2012

It would be fun to pun my way through this review for Wicked Sweet but I don't want to give the impression that the story is too saccharine.  Really.  There is much sweetness in it, courtesy of several characters, some amazing baking, and a plot that wraps up very nicely, but I would never consider it saccharine, sugary sweet or diabetic overload.  Wicked Sweet is an irresistible story of one summer and two friends, Jillian and Chantal, who are finding their way through the minefield that first boyfriends can be, while trying to keep their friendship and self-esteems intact.

It's the summer before their final high school year and the summer starts like any other:  at the lake, planning for their summer project.  Two very dedicated students, Jillian and Chantal know their priorities: friendship and grades.  But behind the friendship is the support each needs to deal with the difficulties in their lives:  Chantal, who suffers from anxiety attacks, has a stringent mother who aims for perfection, while Jillian endures the whims of her self-centered mother who spends more time with boyfriends than she does with her other six children (the Hat Trick, the Double Minor and baby Ollie), always leaving their care to Jillian. 

This summer, though, Jillian is showing an interest in boys, specifically the very hot, wealthy and together Parker, who has just broken up with his long-time girlfriend, Annelise.  And, if Parker brings his best friend, Will, then the four of them can hang out together, even think about doing their summer project with the boys.  Unfortunately, Chantal overhears Will and Parker talking about their "man challenge" which Will wins because he forces a kiss on Chantal (we won't mention that she vomits during the kiss).  Determined to get revenge, Chantal plans on humiliating Will using her new found baking skills, courtesy of Nigella Lawson's cooking channel, to suggest a secret admirer is leaving him very tasty treats and love notes, thus raising his expectations (easily, because of his arrogance) before she takes him down a notch or two.  Chantal even gets Annelise to play a part in this ruse.

Meanwhile, the summer project of a hockey camp for little kids at the lake has Jillian and Parker keeping very busy, but not busy enough to keep Parker from falling hard for her and Jillian from questioning the unrealistic demands her mother places on her and wondering how she can save herself.

Even following her recipe for revenge, Chantal's plot gets amended several times because she: 1) is spotted delivering the cakes; 2) has to hide her baking from her mother; 3) notices Parker is a good guy; 4) anonymously garners more and more attention for the Cake Princess; 5) recognizes who she does have a crush on; and 6) recognizes that everyone's roles are changing.  Although I was having difficulties keeping track of the plan and rationale for each change, I suspect it has more to do with my advanced age, far from the teens in Wicked Sweet.  Spontaneous changes in plans, whether well thought out or not, are not unusual in the lives of teens.  Except the old Chantal who liked schedules and order and pre-planning, the teens amended their plans as needed, usually just dealing with the repercussions of their choices as they manifest themselves.

Jillian is quite right when she claims that, "Who you are is all about what you want to believe." (pg. 302) Jillian, Chantal, Parker and Will are learning about themselves independent of their families who have thus far determined what kind of people they will be: a surrogate care-giver, the perfect daughter, the successful businessman, or a second-rate guy jealous of those who have more than he has.  While Mar'ce Merrell's plot in Wicked Sweet is delicious (sorry, it was irresistible), flavoured (oops, another pun!) with subplots, like Chantal's baking that becomes a sensory experience, it's her characters that had me craving more of Wicked Sweet.  By giving each chapter the different voices of the characters, Mar'ce Merrell allows the reader to get inside of Jillian's head as she tries to manage her mother and not embarrass herself and eventually recognize that she is worthy of more than she has been given, just as Parker begins to recognize that he does have a life plan and it's not being the successful, golfing business man, like his father and brothers, with a socialite wife.  Without knowing the nature of Parker's family, Jillian provides him with the opportunity to explore his own pursuits, vocational and romantic.

Don't let the cover fool you into thinking that Wicked Sweet is a piece of fluff, as it is not. (Sometimes cakes and pretty colours are erroneously taken as suggestive of a book of lesser quality.)  Wicked Sweet is a heartfelt and substantial look at growing up and deciding who you want to be when you don't even know who you are.

And, if you're still not convinced you need to read Wicked Sweet (how could you not be?), envision "light yellow vanilla love sweetened by delicate pink air kisses" and "white meringue frosting decorated with thin-piped daisy petals" and "chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream spotted with chocolate circles." Yum.