The Wizard's Promise by Cassandra Rose Clarke

The Wizard's Promise     

I wanted to like this book.  It's beautiful cover seemed so promising, but The Wizard's Promise failed to keep its promise.

It isn't that the book is awful, by any means.  It is, however, slow...and a little dull.  None of the characters have any depth to them, and Hanna, the protagonist, is not very sympathetic, even the "exciting" adventures lacked real tension.  

I wish I could have liked it better, but I know the next in the series will go on without me.

Read in March; review scheduled for April 12.

NetGalley/Angry Robot

YA/Juv./Fantasy.  May 6, 2014.  

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet

Chasing Vermeer   

What a fun mystery for middle schoolers!

Book Description:  This bewitching first novel is a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, disguised as an adventure, and delivered as a work of art.

When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect; an eccentric old woman seeks their company; an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?

What a fun mystery for middle schoolers!  I ordered this one for Mila, but I had to read it first.  I know, I know--but the book is not hurt in any way from pre-reading.

Art history, mathematical puzzles, problem solving, intriguing characters in Petra and Calder, and suspense are all included.  

I even ordered a set of pentominoes to go with the book.  We all played with the puzzles, although Mila didn't start the book because she was to involved with one of The Land of Stories books.

Ever wonder what inspired Tetris?

Did you know that Arthur C. Clarke included pentominoes in Imperial Earth?  

From the Amazing Mathematical Object Factory:  
The pentomino puzzle is a popular choice for a classroom manipulative to facilitate learning how shapes can be transformed or arranged in a predefined shape and space by simple rotation, reflection, and translation. The pentomino puzzle is readily available and also easy to make. It is a fun way for students as young as grade 3, to learn the basic concepts in tranformation of shape and space.

Want to try some pentominoe puzzles?    online puzzle form Scholastic        

I liked the book, the art connection, the introduction to pentominoes, the mystery, the characters.  It is a great book for the 10-12 age range, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

My favorite mysteries for this age group remain The Westing Game Ellen Raskin and The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, but this one was fun, too.

Read in March

Middle School.  2012.  304 pages.

Fairy Tales and Poetry

In the past, I've sometimes connected National Poetry Month with the Once Upon a Time Challenge.  It is a way to celebrate both poetry and fairy tales. Beauty and the Beast: An Anniversary by Jane Yolen

It is winter now, and the roses are blooming again, their petals bright against the snow. My father died last April; my sisters no longer write, except at the turning of the year, content with their fine houses and their grandchildren. Beast and I putter in the gardens and walk slowly on the forest paths. He is graying around the muzzle and I have silver combs to match my hair. I have no regrets. None. Though sometimes I do wonder what sounds children might have made running across the marble halls, swinging from the birches over the roses in the snow. (via Endicott Studio) ----------------- I really like this one.  Of course, I think Jane Yolen always does a marvelous job with poetry, and I couldn't even begin to choose a favorite.

The New Colossus by Marshall Goldberg

The New Colossus by Marshall Goldberg.

Nelly Bly was a remarkable woman for her time.  I mean, at 23 she had herself committed to the infamous Bellevue Hospital insane asylum where she endured the horrific treatment of its inmates for ten days. (When Charles Dickens visited the asylum some 40 years earlier, he commented that it aroused his "deep disgust and measureless contempt.")

When the story was published, the psychiatrists who pronounced her insane (her symptoms were of amnesia, not insanity) were humiliated, the public outraged, and an investigation was prompted into the treatment of patients at the asylum.

And then there was the trip around the world in 72 days, a la Jules Verne in 1889.  She circumnavigated the world (and even met up with Jules Verne in Amiens, France) by steamship and train sending dispatches when she could to Joseph's Pulitzer's The New York World --24, 899 miles in 72 days.

But the book is not about these assignments, although the Bellevue Insane Asylum story gets a bit of coverage.  No, the assignment (for the novel) is one that Joseph Pulitzer gives Bly personally:  look into Emma Lazarus' death and discover who killed her.  Pulizer is convinced that Emma was murdered, and she was a friend that he treasured and respected.

Learning more about Emma Lazarus, the respected poet and protege of Ralph Waldo Emerson, was fascinating.  Her main claim to fame is the poem The New Colossus that graces the foot of the Statue of Liberty, but she was so much more than that.

Lazarus became interested in her Jewish heritage and began advocated for the rights of immigrants, especially those Jewish immigrants escaping the pogroms in Russia, meeting them at the docks and helping them avoid the pitfalls of a new world.

Like Nelly Bly, Emma Lazarus was a remarkable woman in many ways, and I'd love to read biographies about these two women.

Other historical tidbits that kept me returning to Google:

Alfred J. Cohen - psuedonym Alan Dale;  author of A Marriage Below Zero, and the most feared drama critic of his time.

Mention of The Comstock Act - which made pornography a crime, but included in its definition of pornography was any discussion of contraception.

Castle Garden -  On August 1, 1855, Castle Clinton became the Emigrant Landing Depot, functioning as the New York State immigrant processing facility (the nation's first such entity). It was operated by the state until April 18, 1890,^[2] when the Federal Government took over control of immigration processing, which subsequently opened the larger and more isolated Ellis Island facility for that purpose on January 2, 1892.

Joseph Seligman - During the American Civil War, Seligman was responsible for aiding the Union by disposing of $200,000,000 in bonds "a feat which W. E. Dodd said was 'scarcely less important than the Battle of Gettysburg'".^[2]  

 In 1877, Judge Henry Hilton, the owner of the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga, New York, denied entry to Seligman and his family because they were Jews, creating nationwide controversy. It was the first antisemitic incident of its kind in the United States to achieve widespread publicity.
----

OK--enough.  There are other names and incidents that were interesting (Pulitzer, Jay Gould, Helena deKay Gilder, the financing of the Statue of Liberty through public donations mostly of one dollar or less, Henry Hilton and A.J. Steward and the Missing Corpse, etc.), but I'm tired of going through my bookmark-riddled ebook.


I thought a novel about Nellie Bly would be fascinating.  And in a way, it was, but the novel portion wasn't very good; the fictional parts of the story, the dialogue, the characters were stiff and unwieldy, and actually, pretty dull despite the murder mystery aspect. 

 It would have been nice if Goldberg was better at writing fiction, but he is damn good at writing history.  If he didn't make the fiction live, he made the historical characters live.  

I spent a great deal of time looking things up to see if events happened, and if they did, did the novel deal with them accurately.  And it did!  In fact, I could have saved myself some time, because the author had his own historical notes at the end.

Although the novel part didn't work for me, I'm so glad I read it!

NetGalley/Diversion Books

Historical Fiction.  2014.  Print version:  303 pages.  

Black Dog and Dancing with the Virgins by Stephen Booth

 Black Dog  is the first in Booth's series featuring Ben Cooper and Diane Fry.  Set in the Peak District of England, the novel's sense of place is firmly established, not only in the terrain, but in the characters.

Ben Cooper is a well-liked young DC with a deep understanding of the area and the people who live there.  He loves his job and hopes for promotion.  When fifteen-year-old Laura Vernon is reported missing, Ben becomes immersed in the case, but a schizophrenic episode with his mother proves disastrous for Ben's concentration and his work and reputation as a steady detective suffer.

Diane Fry is a recent transfer to the area.  She, too, hopes for promotion, but her methods are different.  Diane pays attention to her superiors and tries to provide what they want.  Her ambition is calculating; Ben's is not.  It isn't that she is a bad person, but her background is very different and so are her perceptions.  

Ben is empathetic and intuitive.  Suffice it to say, Diane is not.   Knowing  Ben's good reputation with the locals, Diane makes condescending and hurtful remarks, which for the most part, Ben ignores.  And yet, by-the-book Diane somehow gets involved in some of Ben's impetuous, intuitive schemes, and in spite of herself feels a bit protective toward the more innocent Ben.  

Ben feels overburdened by his father's reputation and deals with his mother's illness without revealing the situation, which would have gained him some sympathy concerning his erratic behavior.  Diane has a traumatic experience in her past that continues to have an impact on her thinking.  

Laura Vernon was no innocent, and her parents have some salacious secrets of their own.  Harry Dickinson, the old man who discovers Laura's body, isn't telling all he knows.  In fact, Harry and his two friends remind me a bit of MacBeth's witches whose equivocation influences so much of the action in the play.  Couldn't help but eagerly anticipate scenes with Harry.

This is not a book with a lot of frantic action.  It has a relatively slow pace, and that is a good thing --you get to know the characters, ponder their relationships, make a few guesses about development.

I did make a good guess at the murderer fairly early, but wasn't certain by any means.  

Stephen Booth caught my interest and held it.  

Mystery.  Originally published in 2000.  Print version:  531 pages.



Dancing with the Virgins  the Nine Virgins are nine stones that form a circle on Ringham Moor in the Peak District.  When Jenny Weston is murdered there, police immediately suspect a connection to a woman who was found weeks earlier, dreadfully wounded but alive.

D.C. Ben Cooper, who lost his hoped for promotion to Diane Fry, is partnered with D.C. Todd Weenink for this investigation.  Fry is concentrating on the previous victim who has no memory of the actual attack.  Cooper and his partner are also on the case, interviewing the Rangers and anyone who might have seen anything.

This book is darker than the previous one.  It seems a little busy with sub-plots, but I still enjoyed the slow filling in of information about the main characters.  I'll continue reading this series.

Mystery.  Originally published in 2002.  (both books have recently been republished) 
Print version:  432 pages.

Sorrow Without End (Medieval Mystery series, Book 3) by Priscilla Royal

Sorrow Without End  returns this series to Tyndale Priory and the characters of the priory and local village with whom we are now familiar.

I'm glad to see Ralf the Crowner again, and Brother Andrew, and Glytha, and even the rather odious Sister Ruth.  Brother Matthew, who tries all he can to get Eleanor to purchase a "holy" relic, reminds me of Chaucer and the Pardoner.  Well, not that Brother Matthew is a seller of pig knuckles purported to be the bones of saints or of splinters of the cross, but as a prospective buyer of the same with the intent of making a profit from relics.

So what to we find in this third book in the series?  A murdered soldier who has returned from the Crusades, a dancing madman, Brother Thomas a suspect, a former Crusader with a grievous wound and a case of what we would call post-traumatic stress, a brutal attack on a nun, and a competition between two candidates to become the next Prior.


Parts of Sorrow are a little confusing as the author tries to keep an identity secret.  I don't think the technique worked very well in this case.  Maybe there were a few too many sub-plots as well.  

But I'm hooked on the characters in this series.  Priscilla Royal's ability to bring in interesting historic information in a manner that doesn't distract is another plus.  I did check on the term Outremer, which I did know had to do with the Holy Lands the Crusaders hoped to "recapture," but this time, I looked up the origin which I'd never bothered to do before.  The term Outremer is from the French outre-mer, overseas.  Cool, now it makes sense.  Among the many interesting historic details, Royal includes information about churches and monasteries that house holy relics (real or fake) and the need for protection against theft.

I'd definitely read this series in order, beginning with The Wine of Violence that introduces the characters and their basic backgrounds.  I'm eager for the next in the series, but will wait until I've taken care of some of the books waiting to be read.

Read in March

Medieval Mystery.  2011.  Print version:  241 pages.

Tyrant of the Mind by Priscilla Royal

Tyrant of the Mind  is the second in Priscilla Royal's Medieval Mystery series.  In the previous post, I reviewed Royal's first book in the series which I thoroughly enjoyed.  

Set in the winter of 1271, Tyrant moves the setting from Tyndale Priory to castle Wynethorpe, the castle of Eleanor's father, Baron Adam Wynethorpe .  

Eleanor's nephew is seriously ill, and her father has heard of Sister Anne's ability to heal.  (I thought of including a bit about Sister Anne, Tyndale's infirmarian, in my previous review; now I wish I had.  She is an important minor character who will figure largely in the series.)  

Anyway, Eleanor is accompanied by Sister Anne and Brother Thomas.  Richard is recovering when the novel opens, but both Sister Anne and Brother Thomas have become very attached to boy who is the apple of his grandfather's eye.  

Final plans for the marriage agreement of Eleanor's brother Robert are in the works.  The marriage is intended to unite the families of old friends, but when Henry, the unpleasant son of the family is murdered, and Robert found with a bloody knife in hand--things get sticky.  The resourceful Eleanor is once again called upon to use her investigative skills to prove her brother innocent. Sister Anne and Brother Thomas support and aid Eleanor as she unravels complicated back stories and secrets of the family that provided childhood friendships.

The main characters continue to unfold and develop, the description of the castle provides a wonderful visual back drop, and Eleanor (that weaker vessel) once again proves her common sense and strength of character.  

There are nine books in this series.  I have one more to review and 6 more to read!

Read in March.

Medieval Mystery.  2011.  Print version:  253 pages.

The Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal

Wine of Violence     

While I was looking for medieval mystery titles, I found Priscilla Royal's books listed and decided to try one. 

Wine of Violence is the first in her series featuring young Eleanor of Wynethrop, who has recently been appointed Prioress of Tyndale Priory.  Eleanor's appointment is a political one, overruling the usual practice of the nuns electing their own prioress.  

A resented interloper by many of the nuns, Eleanor has other problems as well:  wresting back control from the Prior of the men's house, managing the depleted priory funds, and within a day of her arrival, a murder.

 Tyndale Priory is a double house:  both nuns and monks serving a hospital.  Housed separately, both serve the hospital and help support the priory.

Below is an image of the Watton Priory; it gives an idea of what the Tyndale Priory might have looked like.

The year is 1270, after Simon de Montfort's defeat.  The thirteenth century during Henry III's reign, before or shortly after the de Montfort rebellion, provides a lot of fodder for medieval mysteries.  Jason Vail's series is set prior to the rebellion; Royal's series takes place after the rebellion with an aging Henry III still on the throne.

Before the novel opens, Royal makes some interesting comments about double houses and the Order of Fontevraud, founded in France, the inspiration for her Tyndale Priory.   She also mentions the difficulties of "portraying the people, their thoughts and feelings, from an era so distant from our own.  The fiction author inevitably walks a very narrow line between making the characters sound too modern to be of the period or making them so different that the modern reader feels little in common with them."

These opening pages have so many things that interested me, including mention that homosexuality and bisexuality were acknowledged, and that although the Church disapproved of many were allowed to live in peace.  On the other hand, many were tortured and executed.  Sort of depended on who you were and where you were.  There is also a discussion of the role of women, "the weaker vessels," with emphasis on those women like Matilda, daughter of Henry I, and chosen by her father to succeed him;  Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose "intricate political and sometimes warlike maneuvering over the reigns of three English kings and one French monarch was a success story Machiavelli should have admired"; and Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III, whose advice was "openly and often sought...in affairs of state."

So...the plot:  Eleanor, the newly appointed Prioress, arrives at Tyndale Priory and is faced with opposition from some of her own nuns and from the Prior of the men's house, or more specifically, from the Prior's assistant.  During Eleanor's first meeting with the Prior, a young monk arrives.   Thomas has a past that he would like to forget and took vows under pressure only as a means of escape from that past.  

A day later, one of the monks is found brutally murdered.  Eleanor must try to gain the respect and cooperation of her nuns and determine who is responsible for Brother Rupert's murder.  Thomas assists as far as he is able, but he has another mission as well: he has been sent to discover what is amiss in the financial records of the priory.

Priscilla Royal has populated Tyndale Priory (and its surrounds) with a number of interesting and believable characters.  They are all well-developed with complex personalities and purposes.

Can you tell that I really liked this novel?  I liked it so well that I ordered the next two in the series and read them immediately.  I will be reviewing them in the next few days.  

Oh, and great bibliographic information at the end.

Read in March

Medieval Mystery.  2011.  249 pages.

Dog Gone, Back Soon by Nick Trout

Dog Gone, Back Soon is the sequel to The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs, which I haven't read.  

Cyrus Mills finds himself taking over his father's veterinary practice.  He soon finds that Healthy Paws, part of a national chain, would like to buy his practice.  If purchase isn't possible, then the director of the Healthy Paws practice will try other means to get control.

A light read, but an amusing one.  It would probably be better to read The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs first.

Read in March; review scheduled for April.

NetGalley/Hyperion/Hachette

Humor.  2014.  Print version:  321 pages.

The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson (Once Upon a Time)

The Kiss of Deception (Book 1 in The Remnant Chronicles) was a wonderful surprise!  I love fantasy, but finding one of those special fantasy books--the kind that delights and surprises and provides so much more than expected--that is a gift.  

Especially if one is expecting a run-of-the-mill, predictable story, and then discovers a beautifully created world with characters that breathe and complex relationships and adventure and more in one compelling book.

I've never heard of Mary E. Pearson before, but on the basis of one book, she is now on my list of favorite authors.  

First sentence:  "Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born."

On the eve of Lia's political marriage to the prince of another kingdom, this feisty princess decides she can't go through with it, and with the help of her friend Pauline, makes her bid for freedom.  The two skillfully evade capture by her father's soldiers, laying false trails and clues until they arrive in Pauline's childhood village, where they work as tavern maids.

Her pursuers are not limited to her father's soldiers, however, and an assassin from Venda and the jilted prince of Dalbreck have succeeded in locating Lia.  She isn't the spoiled royal either one expected, and both young men find themselves intrigued by the tavern maid/runaway bride.

Most of the story is told from Lia's point of view, but shorter alternating chapters are by the Prince and the Assassin.  

The country is on the brink of war, although most do not realize how much preparation the Vendalese (referred to as barbarians) have made or how close they are to making their move.  

To say much more wouldn't be fair, but this is one of the best fantasies I've read in a long time.  I literally could not put it down once I started it.

The first few pages were a little slow, but once they are out of the way, the story flows, the characters develop, and you may find yourself, as I did, surprised at how much this book has to offer.

The publication date is not until July, and I'm breaking my usual pattern of holding a review until closer to the release date because of Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge.  I'll mention it again closer to the publication date to make up for the early review.  

NetGalley/Macmillan/Henry Holt

Fantasy.  July 18, 2014.  Print version:  496 pages.

The Boy Who Stole from the Dead by

I think the most interesting thing about this book concerns the timing.  When I read it theRussia/Crimea/Ukraine situation was still in progress, and the referendum had not yet passed.  Now that the referendum has passed, the UN has declared it invalid.  The international situation has not improved.

How much do you know about the Ukraine?  I knew nothing until reading this novel, but the novel and some subsequent research have increased my knowledge somewhat, especially since the Ukraine has had such a large presence in the news lately.

The Boy Who Stole from the Dead (the Nadia Tesla series, Book 2) continues the story begun in The Boy from Reactor Four.  I have not read the first novel in the series, but although I was missing some background, it didn't impact my understanding of this novel.

From the book description: 

 Bobby Kungenook, a mysterious seventeen-year-old hockey phenom 

from the Arctic Circle, is accused of murder in New York City. 

Bobby’s guardian, Nadia Tesla, knows his true identity. 

If his secret gets out, it could cost him his life....

The book is suspenseful, as Nadia Tesla carries out an international investigation to find evidence that will exonerate Bobby.

Some interesting things mentioned in the novel that I Googled to find out whether or not they existed:

Plast  

The Priest's Grotto  
The Priest's Grotto and the Holocaust Survivors    
Documentary about Survivors  

An ARC ebook from Thomas & Mercer.  Read in March; rev. scheduled for April.

Suspense/Mystery/Thriller.  2014.  Print version:  368 pages.

Dragon Rose by Christine Pope

Dragon Rose  is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.   In this version, the beast is a dragon that claims a girl from a local village as a bride every five to seven years.  (Goes through them pretty quickly, eh?)   

When the flag appears indicating that the dragon will come for another bride, the young women assemble to see whose name will be drawn--to learn who will leave the village and never be heard from again.

The name of Rhianne Menyon's best friend is drawn, and Rhianne does something totally unexpected, volunteering to go in her friend's place.  Given that the previous brides are believed to have been eaten by the dragon, this is a tremendous sacrifice. 

 Strangely, however, although Rhianne professes to believe the previous brides have been eaten by the dragon, emotionally, she seems amazingly cool about it.  She says words to the effect that she is frightened, and yet...she doesn't really exhibit the matching behavior.

Of course, she is not eaten.  The dragon (in a human form, but cloaked to hide the scales) and his bride have separate suites of rooms, and Rhianne is treated kindly.  The dragon asks about her interests or hobbies, and when Rhianne admits her love of painting, she is given all of the paints and canvases she can use.       

And then things get pretty bland.  Daily behavior is detailed, but somehow the details fail to really explain the growing relationship between Rhianne and the dragon.   The foundation for a developing relationship appears to lie almost entirely in the fact that Rhianne doesn't fear the dragon.  No shared interests, no inspiring conversations.  They have dinner together every evening.  The dragon is considerate.    During the day, Rhianne paints her dream fella'. 

The story is predictable, of course, but it misses putting a heart into the story.   There is little suspense, little action, and little depth to the characters.  In the original forms of fairy tales, leaving character development thin is fine, but in a retelling, I expect characters with more human qualities--not archetypes, but more fully rounded personalities.

It isn't a bad book, and yet it was not a book that met the promise of the theme and the opening chapters, nor did it offer a deeper examination of the beauty and the beast motif.  Sort of ended without any bang, and a faint whimper.

Of course, you have to read it to discover what happened to the other brides.

Fairy Tale Retelling.  2012.  Print version:  274 pages.  

Read in March; review scheduled for April.

Country, Cabin, Kids, Books...

We spent the weekend down at the camp.  For Max, I took one of Katherine Langrish's books (Troll Blood) and a Smithsonian dinosaur kit.  Max loves dinosaurs and wants to be a paleontologist. 

 The problems was that Erin, Mila, and I wanted a chance to discover the dinosaur bones, too, and begged for him to let us chisel away at the block.  He was amazingly generous, but it wasn't enough to satisfy us; we wanted our own.  If I'd known how much fun it was, I would have ordered enough for all of us.

For Mila, I took Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett and a set of pentiminoes.  Of course, I always read any book that I buy for the kids before giving it to them.  Is that cheating?  But how else would I really know if they might like it?  It isn't just because I'm a greedy reader.  

I'd read Troll Blood several years ago, but I just read Chasing Vermeer this month, and it is an excellent book for middle graders--full of mystery, suspense, and information about art and  pentiminoes.  I haven't reviewed it yet, but will soon.

Mila, however, had brought a book with her, and she was so engrossed that she didn't have time for Chasing Vermeer right then.

So...what was she reading that kept her so riveted?  It was the second book in The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer (Kurt, from Glee).  This morning, I got online and ordered The Wishing Spell, the first in the series, for myself!

I ordered the Kindle version since Mila already has a copy, and I will use it as one of my Once Upon a Time challenge books.

Here is the book description: 
 Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales.

The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about. 

But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

I'm eager to read this one since Mila liked it so much that she not only gladly read the 455 pages, but begged for the next one.  Also, a book by such a young author that captivates his intended audience so thoroughly is encouraging.  Not only is there a long prospective for future novels, but Chris Colfer's success at writing could easily inspire young people to consider doing the same.  

My brother Marty and sil Robin brought Jack down to have a little time on the tractor.  Jack loves riding the tractor with his grandfather.   Jack's current favorite in books is about a blue dump truck.  

It was a fun weekend, the weather was beautiful, grandkids and grandnephew, a delight.

Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

Ruin Falls begins with a family vacation to visit seldom seen grandparents.  Before they reach their goal, Liz Daniel's children are taken from a hotel.  Worse yet, it eventually seems that the culprit is her husband.

A frantic Liz tries to unravel the reasoning behind her husband's decision to take their children. 

I'm afraid the novel didn't do much for me.  Liz failed to sufficiently engage my sympathy, but that may have been partly because Paul's reasons for taking the kids seemed kind of silly.  The utopian venture did not feel realistic at all, and the secrets in Paul's past were also a little difficult to swallow.

Read in February.  Blog review scheduled for March 31.

NetGalley/Random House/Ballentine

Mystery.  April 22, 2014.  Print version:  352 pages.

Snow in Summer by Jane Yolen

What was your first experience with Snow White?  Was it the Disney film, the Disney Golden Book version, or the German version by the brothers Grimm?

What image is most clear to you from the story?  The evil queen, the mirror, the happy home of the dwarves, the hag and the apple, the glass coffin?  Something else?

All of the above images come to mind for me when I think of Snow White, but perhaps my favorite is an image of the queen, sitting at the window sewing and thinking about the baby she carries. She pricks her finger and three small drops of blood appear in the snow, and she says to herself that she wishes that her daughter would have skin as white as snow, red lips, and ebony hair.  She is already in love with her daughter.  

Brothers Grimm. Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs.
 Bess Livings, illustrator.
Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1938.
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/index.html

Of course, we all know what comes after--the good queen 

dies and the evil queen becomes the stepmother.  

Snow in Summer is an interesting retelling of the Snow White tale, set in the mountains of West Virginia e in the 1940's.  Snow in Summer (called Summer by her parents) has a wonderful childhood until her mother dies when she is seven; and, you know, things begin to go down hill from there.

The story is mostly told through Summer's point of view, but there are also sections from Cousin Nancy's and Stepmama's points of view.  Through these three frames of reference, Yolen is able to give additional insight into the situation.

For the most part, the story follows the original (adjusted for time and place) with the additional character of Cousin Nancy and a little twist on the seven dwarves.  The story has a dark edge which echoes the darkness of classic fairy tales.  All is not Disney-resolved.

What I liked:  The Appalachian setting worked for me, as did the use of local folklore which is woven into the plot.  The character development stayed mostly with Summer, but we get a good feel for Cousin Nancy and for Stepmama, who of course, is a scary woman.  

What bothered me:  Summer loved fairy tales, but apparently she never read Snow White.  Not only does she not pick up the general fairy tale/stepmother trope, the magic mirror doesn't ring any bells, either.  

Snow in Summer is, however, an intriguing retelling of the original story and gives the story a fresh perspective.

First book finished for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge.

Fairy Tale.  2011.  Print version:  272 pages.

Two More Medieval Mysteries

Girl in the Ice by Jason Vail features Stephen Attebrook, a knight who lost half his foot during the crusades.  His military career over and his prospects considerably dimmer, he takes a job as a deputy coroner.  (I'm finding that coroners are frequent characters in medieval mysteries.  I mentioned some of the background of the crowner, coronarius, coroner, Keeper of the Pleas here. )

The winter of 1262 has been brutal, frequent snow storms all but burying the village.  On Christmas Day, the frozen body of a young girl is discovered buried in a drift of snow.  She is very young and very beautiful and captures the imagination of the villagers.

Stephen must discover her identity, and no one in the village or its immediate surroundings knows who she is.  His investigation leads to some political complications that are dangerous.  

I liked the book, but didn't love it.  Stephen, Gilbert, and Harry are interesting characters and the plot has some historical aspects concerning the Welsh March and the Simon de Montfort rebellion.  I like that the ebook was 99 cents, and I was able to experience another medieval author.  Would I read another in this series?  Yes, but I'm also interested in trying other new authors.

Medieval Mystery.  2013.  Print version:  270 pages.


The Good Knight by Sarah Woodbury is the first in a series featuring Gwen, daughter of a famous bard, and Gareth, a knight in service to Prince Hywel of Wales.  Set in 1143, the novel is based on an actual murder of Anarawd, a minor Welsh king who was murdered on his way to marry the daughter of King Owain Gwynedd.

Despite the title, the main protagonist is the scrappy Gwyn, whose travels with her curmudgeonly father enable her to gather information for Prince Hywel.  

Prince Hywel, a complicated and somewhat secretive man, is my favorite character.  In real life, Hywel was interesting, but Woodbury makes his fictional version compelling.

While the basic tale is true, and the relationships of the historic characters fascinating, some of the dialogue seems too modern.  It is, perhaps, less of a mystery than a political conundrum.  The man who orders the murders of Anarawd and his men has great clout and his efforts to avoid being discovered as responsible involve scapegoating another.

I enjoyed this book, and I will read more because I want more of Prince Hywel and Prince Rhun, and I want to know more about Christin.  In other words, although I liked the redoubtable Gwen and the honorable Gareth, my favorite characters are those who lived and were involved with the events of the time.

Medieval Mystery.  2011.  Print version:  339 pages.