In real-world London, Madeleine and her mother are runaways. Together they escaped from a previous life in which they were rich and lived all over the world. At first Madeleine thought their leaving was a lark. The truth is something she may never be ready to accept.
Elliot, resident of the land of Cello, prepares for his next trip away. He’s been searching for his father, who went missing the night his uncle died. Rumors say a purple murdered his uncle and dragged his father and a local woman to its cave as prisoners. If Elliot can catch the right spell, he can find them and bring them home.
When a letter from Cello asking for help turns up in a parking meter in London, Madeleine answers it, believing it’s probably a prank of some kind. As she corresponds with Elliot, who receives her letters in Cello, she begins to wonder if what he says could be real. Could there really be another world, one connected only by a crack the size of a folded note?
As problems swell around both Madeleine and Elliot, they look to each other for confidence as they struggle to sort things out. Madeleine takes refuge in knowledge. Elliot must guard the “Butterfly Child,” a tiny girl who may be able to save his town from ruin.
My Review
Madeleine and Elliot’s journeys are wildly imaginative and fun. From the color attacks that plague the people of cello to the vivid characters of Madeleine’s friends and teachers, the story stays interesting as the conflict grows.
As Elliot explains where he lives and what it’s like, Madeleine responds with criticism for the lack of creativity in the names of the locations and the strangeness of his world. It’s kind of funny because it’s the sort of criticism a reader might give a writer, but within the story, Cello is a real place. I enjoyed that bit of paradox.
I thought I knew where the story was headed, and in part I was right. There were some elements that emerged, though, that I really didn’t see coming. They made for a great set-up leading into the sequel to the story, THE CRACKS IN THE KINGDOM, which came out in March of 2014.
Content Notes
Profanity/Crude Language Moderate profanity used very infrequently.
Sexual Content Brief kissing. Vague references to Elliot’s romantic history as a heartbreaker.
Spiritual Content One of Madeleine’s friends believes in astrological signs and the other believes in reading auras. Both have some minor significance in the plot. In Cello, spells can be captured from a magical lake.
Violence In Elliot’s world, waves of color attack people with varied levels of intensity. His uncle died from an attack by a purple the night his father disappeared. Elliot was the one who found his body (described briefly.)
This week’s topic is about which authors I’ve read most. I’m breaking my top authors into two categories: books I read as a child and books I read as an adult/reviewer. Obviously authors with big series that I followed have a huge advantage here, but there were a few that surprised me.
Top Authors I Read as a Child
1. Ann M Martin.
Okay, you guessed it. I was a total baby-sitter’s-clubber. I must have read over thirty of those books in my tween years. Mary Anne was my favorite, but Stacey and Claudia were close seconds. I did some babysitting myself and I think I always wished I’d had friends to share the stories and experiences with.
That beloved series isn’t all I’ve read by Martin. More recently I enjoyed Rain Reign by Martin. You can check out my review here.
2. C. S . Lewis
Well, you knew that was coming. This one really belongs on both lists. I’ve read the Narnia series more than once. The first time as a child, then again while my family was in North Carolina avoiding a fierce hurricane in Florida, and again aloud to my daughter.
I think each time I read the series a different book is my favorite. My current fav is The Horse and His Boy. Beyond the Narnia series, I’ve loved Lewis’s Mere Christianity, A Grief Observed,The Screwtape Letters, and Till We Have Faces. I have not read his sci-fi series, though I’ve heard it’s great.
3. Laura Ingalls Wilder
My sister gets the credit for introducing me to this series. She had a box set that was maybe a Christmas gift? After she’d read the books and talked about how much she liked them, I had to read them, too.
Today, my daughter has her own box set of these books. Though she’s only read the first one, it’s really sweet seeing the series peeking out from her bookshelf. I hope she reads the whole series someday.
Fans of this series might enjoy the Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich. I haven’t read them yet, but friends have recommended them. It’s the story of an Ojibwa girl, which makes a neat comparison to Wilder’s familiar frontier settler stories.
4. Robin McKinley
I discovered my first book by Robin McKinley in a used books stall at a flea market. Beauty, an amazing retelling of Beauty and the Beast captured me right away. It became one of the books my mom gave for Christmas gifts one year.
Since that first taste, I went on to read other great re-imagined fairy tales as well as her fantasy novels The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword. You can read my review of The Hero and the Crownhere.
5. James Herriot
I had forgotten all about these charming books until my mom recently gave me one I hadn’t seen before. After losing both our cats this year to old age and health problems, my mom (who is incredible and so very thoughtful) put together a little package that included James Herriot’s Cat Stories. I’m excited to read it.
My journey with Herriot’s books began with the audiobooks, which we listened to as a family on long car trips. The books are basically short stories about his adventures as a vet in the English countryside. Some are laugh-out-loud funny while others are really tender and sweet. Definitely good stuff for any animal lover.
Top YA Authors I’ve Read as an Adult (ahem) Reviewer
1. Anne Elisabeth Stengl
This is another name that probably comes as no surprise to my faithful blog followers! (Because I’ve reviewed much of the series here.) I stumbled onto the first book in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series and have been eagerly awaiting each subsequent book since.
One of my favorite things about this series is that the books aren’t all following the same characters, and the story doesn’t continue chronologically through all the books. It’s more like a collection of stories from within the same awesome story world. I. Love. It. Which is my favorite? Probably this one.
2. Rick Riordan
This one I blame on my cousin. She devoured the Percy Jackson series, which I hadn’t gotten around to reading. She offered to lend me the books and then it was my turn to plow through them. Since then I’ve read the first three books in the Heroes of Olympus series (I liked what he did with bringing Roman mythology into things.)
I think my favorite thing about the series as a whole is that as you read, you learn who’s who in Greek mythology (and Roman mythology, if you read Heroes of Olympus) kind of without even meaning to. Is it something you have to know about in order to graduate or become a functioning adult? No, but I love that the story is so entertaining that you don’t even realize you’re learning stuff. I want more books like this.
I haven’t reviewed any of the books in the series (not sure how this happened) but they’re fairly clean. I don’t think there’s any profanity. There’s some mild violence from battle scenes involving monsters. There is one boy/boy unrequieted crush that’s briefly discussed, but I don’t think it really goes anywhere or is very consequential to the story.
3. J K Rowling
I feel like this is almost a cop-out answer. There are seven books in the Harry Potter series, and I’ve read them all. I didn’t read them until I was an adult. My ten year-old daughter hasn’t read them at this point. We agreed that she could start reading them and do one book per year (I can’t take credit for that idea. Laura L. Smith suggests this in a post on her web site) but she hasn’t started reading them yet.
I LOVE the audiobook versions read by Jim Dale. Like, I could listen to them over and over. So. Good.
Which is my favorite? Maybe the fourth one? I’m not sure.
4. Jill Williamson
I’ve read two series by Williamson – a fantasy series and a dystopian series – and enjoyed both for different reasons. The fantasy series (Blood of Kings series) was a great sort of classic fantasy story – kings and magic and dark powers and stuff like that. It’s a Christian series, so there’s a parallel religion through the story and some great spiritual themes. Great for tween or early teen readers.
The dystopian series (Safe Lands series) is a lot darker and more mature. Williamson stays true to Christian values and principles and incorporates them into her story, but characters wrestle with issues like drug addiction and the emotional consequences of an unexpected pregnancy.
5. Maggie Stiefvater
Okay, so I cheated because I’ve read five books by Stiefvater and five books by several other amazing authors (including Stephanie Morrill and Laura L. Smith.) I chose Stiefvater because I’m anxiously pining for the next book in her Raven Boys series. Though the spiritual content is totally not Christian-themed (there’s a lot of new age-y, psychic stuff happening, so it’s definitely not for everyone) the characters are so captivating. I really need to know what happens next.
Outside this series, I read the first book in the Mercy Falls series and did not care for it at all. There was a lot of repetitive phrasing, and I just really didn’t buy into the story.
However. The Scorpio Races. Wow. Amazing. Seriously, go read it now. It’s SO good. Here’s my review.
So those are my top ten. How about yours? Have you read books by these guys? Did it make you want to check out something new? Who are your top favorite authors?
When soldiers attack his village, fifteen year-old Elijah Bwoko and his best friend become separated from family members. They receive word that Elijah’s sisters have been taken as slaves to a village several days’ journey away. In order to reach the girls, the boys must sneak past the soldiers who enslaved them and find a way to set them free. Then the group will have to escape across the border of Uganda. If they can get to the refugee camp there, they can apply for passage to America for freedom and safety.
In straightforward prose, DiCianni relates the story of a young boy in a war torn nation. Elijah is easy to relate to through descriptions of his love for soccer, his friendship with Thomas, and his love for his missing sisters. Though it addresses a heavy topic, the story doesn’t go into a lot of graphic detail in scenes depicting soldiers and child slavery. The content is mild enough for older elementary readers. It’s a relatively short novel at 122 pages, and would make a great resource for the classroom as part of a world cultures or current events study.
Language Content
No profanity.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content As Christians, Elijah and Thomas pray when scary or dangerous situations arise. Earlier in the story, Elijah reminds his friend that the trouble in Sudan began when Muslims from the north of the country tried to take valuable resources from the south and force the people to denounce Christianity.
Violence Soldiers destroy a village and capture children to be used for slave labor. The boys run, so they don’t really witness this firsthand. They see the destruction left behind, though. A village boy is missing a leg from an incident with a land mine. Gunfire alerts the boys that soldiers approach. Some scary situations, but few descriptions of violence.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Caitlyn and Cassie may look exactly the same, but inside they’re as different as two people can be. On this they agree: the tiny town of Aura, Texas is the last place they want to live. Caitlyn, ever the optimist, tries to make the best of the move. Cassie hatches plot after plot to convince Mom to return to San Antonio. Strange visions begin clouding the twins’ sight. To Cassie, this could turn into an opportunity to get in with the cool kids. Caitlyn, however, is convinced they should use their gift to help others. The last person they expected turns out to need their help most of all.
Twins themselves, the authors know a lot about issues faced by identical siblings. Cassie and Caitlyn have two distinct personalities and two very different ideas on how to solve problems. Both struggle to craft unique identities to avoid being mistaken for one another in a way that any reader with siblings can easily understand. Told with a mixture of sass and poise, this story touches on the difficulties of finding new friends in a small town. It reminds readers that ultimately, power should be used for the good of others, and that even moms need a little help sometimes.
Language Content
No profanity.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Cassie and Caitlyn begin having visions foretelling future events. They research ESP for more information, but uncover little that is helpful, other than a reference to another case similar to theirs.
When Did You See Her Last? Lemony Snicket
Little Brown
In an account of his second “wrong question,” detective’s apprentice Lemony Snicket investigates the disappearance of a young brilliant chemist. With the help of his wacky chaperone, an aspiring journalist and two boys who work together operating a taxi, Snicket uncovers a tangled plot stretching far beyond the simple disappearance of a girl. Far away, his sister faces her own trials, and Snicket laments not being able to help her. Could it all be connected to the vicious Hangfire and his evil plot?
Once again, author Lemony Snicket charms readers with tongue-in-cheek narrative and a hilarious cast of characters. Snicket challenges readers’ vocabulary by including complex words and often defining them within the narrative. It’s a nice way to introduce new words. My daughter and I read both the first and second books in this series together, and she can’t wait to read the next one. We started the Series of Unfortunate Events, and she really likes those books, too, but The Wrong Questions books are a little bit lighter and still have the same kind of humor and silliness. The series has a really unique feel that’s part detective noir and part quirky fantasy. This would make a great summer read, though I recommend starting with the first book.
Language Content
None.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content None.
Violence Brief references to violence. A woman is said several times to be “very good with a knife.” In one slightly creepy scene, Snicket discovers a room with small beds that have manacles attached to them – as if someone is planning to imprison children and experiment on them. Later, Snicket sees a person-shaped hole in a window, which someone has been shoved through.
Drug Content
An apothecary uses laudanum to keep an adult couple in a stupefied state.
Between Shadows Kathleen Cook Waldron
Coteau Books
When his grandfather dies unexpectedly, Ari and his remaining family gather at the cabin deep in the woods. At the reading of the will, another surprise greets Ari, his dad and his aunt: Grandpa left the cabin and all his land to Ari. Uninterested in the remote property that conjures painful memories, Ari’s dad and aunt make plans to sell everything. Ari is determined to change their minds.
Author Kathleen Cook Waldron brings to the story her own experience living in the bush. The details of the cabin and surrounding land and community are told in vivid detail so that even the most urban readers can perfectly picture the serene woods, playful stream and peaceful lake.
Through Waldron’s clean storytelling, we follow a grieving family as they wrestle with loss. I loved how each member of Ari’s family reconnected with his grandfather through the experience of staying at the cabin. Though he’s no longer present, his love for his family is so clear in the things he left behind. Each character discovers and responds to these unwritten love letters from their father or grandfather. In these moments, Waldron’s writing is moving, subtle and clever.
This is a great story about the opportunity grieving families have to rediscover their lost loved one and renew relationships with one another. The rustic setting gently reminds us to consider what’s really important.
