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by Margaret Peterson Haddix

another retelling of the cinderlla fairy tale, but this time what happens after the “happily every after” begins? also, ella is astounded to hear in the whispers around the court and by the commoners about a fairy godmother and magic.

a good book but ultimately, a little fast at the end? or maybe not enough of an ending? basically, it felt like a well thought out book until the last ten pages or so. still, interesting bits here and there and a nice story over all.

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by Hilari Bell

i’ve probably gotten this book out of the library three or four times and for some reason or another just never cracked it open. today i did and what a satisfying read. i usually never like books where magic ends or leaves for another world – they’re just depressing, like a magical ‘last of the mohicans’, sigh. but this oneuses that concept in a smart way, leaving a little loophole at the end which makes it all very bearable. the writing is good, the characters are real, the moral is true (things are not black and white and the ends don’t justify the means) – a nice quick book, pefect as a way to unwind at the end of a four-day-weekend.

[visit the author’s website]

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by Gerlandine McCaughrean

didn’t like this book at all until the last dozen or so pages and then i loved it. a short book that took a couple of hours to read, it was frustrating and saddening. it tells the story of timna, the only daughter of noah, during the time of the great flood. her eldest brother’s fundamentalist zeal and her father’s “god-will-take-care-of-everything” smugness and blindness was irritating and maddening – though timna herself at time seemed treacherous and blind as well. the author does such a good job showing the slow craziness that comes from forty days at sea without any sure knowledge that the flood will end.

really powerful imagery that will still with me for a while, particularly the survivors of the flood who rap at the walls of the ark and cry out for help while hanging on the branches and bits of logs. reminds me of scences from the titanic – definitely not something i’d imagined hearing previous accounts of noah and his ark. shudder. i definitely want to read more by this author.

[link to the author’s website]

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by Lilly Thal

one of the best books i’ve read in a long long time. so great! i’m hoping the author writes more -whether about mimus or others – so soon. it was the kind of book where after i finished reading i just kept patting the cover and sighing – yup, that good. taking place in a medieval world, it’s the story of florin, the hostage prince who has been forced to become the apprentice to the new king’s jester.

the cover illustration is perfect – it really conveys the atmosphere and focus of the book, which at times you might think is florin, but in reality is a commentary on outsiders, an old (thiry-something! ) wise man, and the ridiculousness of revenge and war.