Months after the evil Queen Olympia disappeared downriver in the kingdom of Beaurivage, a bad energy seems to be stirring up trouble. King Christian and Queen Marigold, still newlyweds, suddenly have their first quarrel. Their five family dogs constantly squabble over one blue squeaky toy.
And far away in a tiny town, a woman who spent her last several months as the helpful and compassionate Angie, suddenly remembers her true identity. No longer the peaceful friendly lady the town has fallen in love with, Queen Olympia demands to be taken home to Beaurivage castle. Once there, her demands only escalate.
As Christian, Marigold, Ed and King Swithbert frantically search for a plan to (nonviolently) remove Olympia from power, Olympia strikes with a plan of her own. She has Swithbert and his friends arrested for treason. Knowing her mother’s ruthless ways, Marigold can’t afford to wait for the trial, which will surely be a farce. Together with Christian and some of the palace workers, she formulates a plan to remove Olympia from power for good.
The same fun spirit, advanced vocabulary and loveable characters fills the pages of the sequel to Once Upon a Marigold. While a lot of attention is given to the theory about Olympia creating “bad energy” which permeates everyone and everything around her, characters do emphasize that one’s attitude remains one’s own responsibility. Readers who enjoyed the playfulness of the first book about Christian and Marigold will surely enjoy this lively addition to the series. A third volume, Thrice Upon a Marigold completes the series.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity.
Sexual Content Brief kissing.
Spiritual Content Marigold and Christian call upon the help of a wizard who is experimenting with necromancy. Characters briefly discuss what this practice entails and the wizard hasn’t had any great success at it as yet. Characters frequently discuss Queen Olympia’s “bad energy” and believe that her negative energy affects everyone around her. This inspires arguments and general uneasiness and unhappiness even when she is not personally involved in the conflict. Ultimately, the wizard and another character perform a magic spell to exile the bad personality within Queen Olympia. He hopes to leave behind the kind and placid personality.
Violence The servants and guards stage a rebellion when Olympia plans to execute the king and his friends. She plots the execution and builds a gallows, but no hangings occur. Christian and Marigold carefully plan the rebellion for as little violence as possible, even including cookies as a distraction to bystanders.
Three brothers and a young girl fight for survival within the towering walls of the Safe Lands. Despite its name, the city is ravaged with disease and infested with corruption. Each brother follows a mission: to find a cure for the sick; to free the captives; to take down the Safe Lands in a rebellion.
The second in her Safe Lands series, Outcasts is quickly earning a reputation as an intense story set in a captivating world. As a fan of Williamson’s fantasy series, Blood of Kings, I’ve been eager to get lost in another story by this worthy author.
The Captive Maiden by Melanie Dickerson
Release date: 11/9/13
Lonely Gisela spends her days serving her stepmother and grasping at memories of a happier childhood. When a handsome Duke throw a grand ball, Gisela is determined to attend and to have one last glimpse of the beauty of her past.
Dickerson won my heart as a reader with her debut novel The Healer’s Apprentice, a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The beautiful simplicity of the story and the lovely characters she creates are difficult to resist. I am eager to get my eyes on her latest happily ever after story, inspired by the familiar tale of Cinderella in The Captive Maiden.
Cress (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer
Expected release date: 2/4/14
The third novel in the Lunar Chronicles series, Cress follows the story of a girl briefly mentioned in the series’ acclaimed story, Cinder. The story features unforgettable cast members, including Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, Wolf and the dreadful Queen Levana.
With Meyer’s gift for a perfect meld of sci-fi and fairy tales retold, this series is one not to miss. Cinder was a fabulous story and very clean content-wise. I’m very hopeful to find Cress to be another gem.
Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Expected release date: 2/25/14
The day of Lady Daylily’s wedding draws near. Unlike the princesses of fairy tales, she will wed not her true love, but his awkward and foolish cousin. Daylily has always been the dutiful daughter. This time, however, she rebels, disappearing into the legendary Wilderlands and the land of Faerie. Though not her true love, her betrothed pursues her into peril, determined to rescue her.
If you’ve followed my blog long, you’ll be familiar with this name. Stengl continually amazes me with her brilliant characters and sharp dialogue. She possesses an elusive ability to seamlessly draw symbolism into her stories without distracting from the tales. Shadow Hand revisits a fascinating character from an earlier novel in the Tales of Goldstone Wood called Veiled Rose. I can hardly wait until this one hits the shelves.
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
Release date: 2/1/11
A young Japanese boy dreams of one day being a Samurai warrior It seems impossible, since he is the son of a fisherman. When he is stranded and then rescued by sailors on an American vessel, Manjiro begins a grand journey that will take him across the globe.
I stumbled upon this inspired-by-history novel on a rack of books for sale at the public library last summer and was immediately intrigued. My mother recently added it to her library, and has raved about the craftsmanship of the story and the power in its telling. I may have to snag this one as soon as she finishes the last page.
Stay Where You Are and Then Leave by John Boyne
Release date: 3/25/14
From the author who penned The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, an unforgettable tale of two boys who become unlikely friends during World War II comes an intriguing story about the son of a World War I soldier. His father promises not to go away, but then he leaves on a secret mission. Four years later, the boy discovers that his father is being treated in a local hospital. He vows to find his father and bring him home. I’m hopeful to find this novel every bit as engrossing and moving as Boyne’s WW II story.
Interrupted by Rachel Coker
Release date: 3/27/12
In the midst of the Great Depression, Allie’s whole life implodes. Her mother succumbs to illness and Allie is sent to a new family far away. Still lost in her grief, Allie isolates herself from the new family faces around her. The last person she hopes to see is the one she blames for her mother’s death, but her former best friend isn’t going to let Allie off so easily. Interrupted landed on my reading list when it was nominated as a finalist for the 2013 Christy Award.
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
Release date: 9/17/13
Henkes captured my household with his delightful children’s stories about two charming mice in Chrysanthemum and Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse. The quirky characters and layers of humor meant for adult and child alike made these oft-repeated bed-time tales. I was thrilled to see this book announced and can’t wait to see what glories he brings to middle grade fiction.
The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
Expected release date: 3/25/14
Piper scrapes out a meager existence by finding and selling scraps on Meteor Fields. When she finds a strange girl amidst the flotsam, she immediately recognizes the mark that changes everything. The girl’s arm bears the Mark of the Dragonfly, an emblem which means her return home will mean a payday to trump paydays for Piper, if she can just get there. Thus begins a grand adventure.
Something about the description of this book reminds me of the magical world created by Marissa Meyer in the Lunar Chronicles. Without having read the book, it’s difficult to say whether this is an accurate hunch. But two girls on a dangerous journey, one returning to the past and the other grasping at the only hope for her future… what’s not to like? I’m intrigued.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Release date: 5/20/09
This book may well turn out to be one of those good ones that somehow slipped past unnoticed. I’ve heard some buzz about it lately, and since it was first recommended to me by a friend, I’m more curious than ever to get into this story set in a world in which parents of a child who reaches the age of thirteen have the ability to choose whether to keep the child or to have them “unwound,” and essentially destroyed.
Eleven-year-old Ophelia’s father brings her and her older sister Alice to a magical museum in a city in which it always snows. When science-loving Ophelia wanders off to explore the museum in search of dinosaurs and fossils, she finds a boy locked in a small room. He tells an impossible story and asks for her help. Ophelia, who only believes things that can be scientifically proven, is torn about helping the boy, who says he must find a magical sword, and the One Other, who can kill the evil Snow Queen before the queen’s clock chimes and the world ends. Deciding to at least free the boy, Ophelia embarks on a strange journey filled with mysterious creatures.
Since her mother’s death three months ago, Ophelia, her father, and sister have been isolated from one another. The quest to save the strange boy proves to be a journey toward healing for Ophelia and her family as well.
My Review
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is a whimsical tale full of fascinating creatures and loveable characters. Though Ophelia herself is the real hero, her father finds his strength and stands with her in a demonstration of protection and solidarity. Middle grade readers will enjoy Ophelia’s tale, and the emotional journey she faces is sure to encourage readers dealing with losses of their own.
Profanity/ Crude Language Content No profanity.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Ophelia faces a horde of ghosts who were once young girls captured by the Snow Queen. Later Ophelia feels herself guided by an inner voice she believes is her mother speaking to her from beyond the grave.
Violence When the queen’s clock chimes, the Snow Queen will destroy the Marvelous Boy unless he and Ophelia can find the One Other, who can use an enchanted sword to kill her. This culminates in a battle scene, but very little blood is shed.
Drug Content None.
Note: I received an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When an unknown Voice beckons to Toby to leave his home in the caves and seek others on the earth’s surface, Toby can’t help but obey. His caretakers, scientists who’ve created him from a melding of human and cat DNA, pack supplies for Toby and allow him to leave their care. Though the scientists have had no word from earth’s surface for a long time, they prepare him as best they can and respect his desire to choose his own path in life.
On his journey Toby meets many human survivors, many of whom are cruel or mentally damaged in some way. While at the outset of the story, it seems the Voice leads him on some kind of evangelistic mission, Toby’s real quest is to discover somehow whether being born in a test tube means he has a soul or not. In a sort of burning-bush type of meeting with the Voice, he learns the truth of this question.
This is a short, fairly simple story which may appeal to preteens struggling with issues of self-worth and spirituality. The plot develops loosely, leaving some threads unfinished, but Toby’s innocence and compassion are admirable and endearing traits that draw readers into the story and open dialogue about injustice and personal value.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Toby begins a journey outside the caves in which he has lived his life at the request of a Voice he continues to hear throughout the story. He realizes the speaker is God and makes a commitment to follow Him.
Violence Renegade children surround Toby and threaten to cut off his cat tail. He escapes before they can harm him.
Drug Content
After Toby is injured, he wishes for quick-healing medicine his caretakers provided for him when he lived in the cave.
Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
When a mysterious arrow turns up in a dusty closet, Clifton Chase thinks he’s uncovered nothing but old worthless junk. The arrow, however, turns out to be so much more. With a flash of light, Clifton finds himself transported back to fifteenth century England, in a time when a ruthless ruler has seized power and locked away two young princes. Allies of these princes believe Clifton is just the hero they’ve been waiting for and they prepare a force to accompany Clifton on a bold rescue mission.
Inspired by true historical events, this middle grade adventure novel weaves history together with mythical creatures and memorable characters to create a highly entertaining story. Though this is Engle’s debut novel, she handles story like a pro, barely giving the reader a moment to catch breath before leaping off into new twists and turns. Readers who enjoy middle grade adventure stories will not be disappointed in this charming and exciting adventure.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Brief references to a Creator who has a plan for the lives of his creatures.
Violence A few brief battle scenes. Nothing gory. One character gives his life to save another.
A forest troll named Ed finds a young boy named Christian. Christian had run away from home. He did not want to go back. Ed says Christian can stay with him for one night, but Christian ends up staying in the cave with Ed and his two dogs, Bub and Cate until he grows up. One day while he was looking in his telescope, Christian saw a princess named Marigold. Christian wrote her a letter and sent it by pigeon. Marigold read the letter and p-mailed back. They became best friends. Ed was worried. Soon it was time for Christian to get a job. He got a job fixing things at the castle and had lots of adventures.
Marigold’s mom, Queen Olympia, was forcing her to get married. Marigold was upset. She did not want to get married. Christian was sad, too because he wanted to marry her, but she could only marry royalty. Christian would have to find a way to be with Marigold.
I loved everything in the story. Ed always gets idioms mixed up. It is hilarious. Bub and Cate and Marigold’s dogs (the three floor mops) are silly. Queen Mab is the Tooth Fairy. She always gets lost on her way to collect people’s teeth. That is funny, too. Queen Olympia orders everyone around. That was entertaining. It was also funny when Rollo the guard got mad because Meg kissed Christian. There is nothing about this book I do not like. It is the best book in the world!
A Review by Kasey Giard
Christian is a young inventor living in the forest with his foster father, a troll named Ed. Life is pretty sweet until the day Christian discovers the lonely Princess Marigold and decides to send her a message via carrier pigeon (p-mail). To Christian’s surprise, the princess replies to his message and the two become best friends. If only that were enough for Christian. As he comes of age and sets out to make his way in the world, Christian seeks work at the castle where Marigold lives, even though he knows he’ll never be able to have a relationship with her since he will be no more than a servant. Then Christian uncovers a vicious plot to kill Marigold, and he can’t sit by and do nothing. But how can a commoner do anything to save the princess?
Once Upon a Marigold is a spunky, cute fairytale story about having courage to do what’s right to protect the people important to you and the meaning of true friendship. Ferris cleverly weaves a whimsical world in which a forest troll wants to break the Tooth Fairy’s monopoly on collecting teeth, even though she constantly gets lost. Full of silliness and heart, this is a great story to share with middle readers.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None
Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content The princess is under a curse of uncertain origin: when someone touches her, she knows their thoughts. She and Christian briefly discuss their astrological signs, and the fact that they share the same sign is viewed as a confirmation of their relationship.
Violent Content
A flying machine crashes, causing some minor injuries. A character is struck with an arrow that must be removed. Nothing graphic.
Drug Content None
About the Bloggers Anna is a third grade student. She enjoys reading, riding her cousin’s scooter, playing with her cousins, and having adventures. She also enjoys riding bikes with her cousins. This is her first review.
Read about Kasey Giard here.
