Kids Fantasy
THE SISTERS GRIMM by Michael Buckley
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Ever since their parents disappeared, Sabrina and Daphne have been shuffled around from foster home to foster home. All of their new homes have been terrible by Sabrina’s standards, and she has grown quite skilled at escaping from them. When an old lady claiming to be their grandmother, “Relda Grimm,” summons the girls to live with her, Sabrina starts planning an escape before they even arrive in Ferryport Landing. Their father always told them their grandmother was dead, so the old lady must be either crazy or evil, and either way, Sabrina and Daphne will need to escape. Once they meet the old lady, however, it becomes clear that “crazy” is the more appropriate adjective. Not only does she believe that she is the girls’ grandmother, she also seems to believe that all of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales are historical fact, and that the fairy tale creatures still live magical lives in Ferryport Landing! Young Daphne seems to believe the old lady’s stories, but Sabrina knows better. Her perspective changes, however, when Granny Relda is abducted by an actual, real, live giant. Unable to ignore the fairy tale reality any longer, Sabrina and Daphne prepare to take up the Grimm legacy as fairy tale detectives. Their first mission: to rescue their grandmother from the clutches of the giant.
The Sisters Grimm is the first book in a series of fairy tale detective stories. The books are very humorous, and the modern imaginings of the fairy tale characters are a lot of fun. The stories are heavier on the fantasy action than the detective work, but there are a fair number of clues to unravel throughout. I recommend The Sisters Grimm to upper-elementary readers who enjoy humorous fantasy stories.
If you liked The Sisters Grimm, you might like Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.
THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13 by Eva Ibbotson
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London’s King’s Cross Station has many secrets, but its best kept secret lies behind Platform 13: a magical entrance to another world that only opens for nine days once every nine years. The last time the portal opened, the baby Prince of the magical Island was kidnapped by a wicked, selfish woman called Mrs. Trottle who was unable to have children of her own. The portal closed before the Prince could be rescued. Now, nine years later, a group of unlikely heroes (a giant, a wizard, a fey, and a young hag named Odge) travel into the human world to find the young Prince and bring him home. Odge and her companions are quite optimistic about their chances of returning with the Prince, but when they find “Raymond Trottle,” they are dismayed to discover that he is a spoiled, rotten, horrible boy and not the sort of prince they want at all. Still, for the sake of the King and the Queen, they are determined to bring him home, and so they enlist the help of a servant boy, Ben, as they try to convince Raymond to return to their magic world.
The Secret of Platform 13 is a wonderfully written magical tale that elementary-age fantasy readers will definitely enjoy. It is one of my favorite fantasy books for that age group. Read-alikes include most other books by Eva Ibbotson (Dial-a-Ghost, Island of the Aunts, etc.), books by Roald Dahl (Matilda, The Witches, The Twits, etc.), the early Harry Potters (1-3), The Real Boy by Anne Ursu, Magyk by Angie Sage, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Diana Wynne Jones’ Chrestomanci books (Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, etc.).
POWERLESS by Matthew Cody
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When Daniel and his family move to a new town to take care of his aging grandmother, Daniel immediately notices something odd about the kids of Noble’s Green. At first he excuses the strange things he sees as tricks of his mind. Mollie couldn’t possibly move as fast as he thought she did. Certainly the bully Clay couldn’t be strong enough to hurl him that far through the air. But when Eric rescues him from a would-be-fatal fall and flies him up to their secret hide-out, Daniel has to face the truth. The kids of Noble’s Green have superpowers. Most of them choose to use their powers only for good and to hide their abilities from the adults. But one thing is universally true: the powers disappear on your thirteenth birthday. Your old talents vanish, and with them your memories of your childhood adventures and even of your friendships. Some of the kids have accepted this change as destiny, and watched their older friends drift away from them, knowing it would one day be their turn. But Mollie suspects that something else might be going on. Unfortunately, any kid who tried to figure out the truth in the past lost their powers prematurely. But Daniel has no superpowers, and his talent at detective work makes him the perfect man for the job. It is all up to Daniel to discover who or what is stealing the superpowers of Noble’s Green, before the supers lose another friend.
I just picked this book up when I was browsing, and boy am I glad I did! This is a great adventure mystery, built on themes of growing up and changing relationships that we can all relate to. It will probably appeal most to upper elementary and middle schoolers. A truly fun, imaginative read–I highly recommend it!
If you liked Powerless, you might like Sidekicks by Jack D. Ferraiolo.
INKHEART by Cornelia Funke
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Meggie’s father, Mo, is a book doctor. He repairs old books with loving care and encourages Meggie in her own love of books and stories. But Mo never reads aloud. Meggie has never given this too much thought until a mysterious man called Dustfinger shows up at their house in the middle of the night, and Meggie’s world is turned upside down. She and her father are forced to flee from some sort of evil man by the name of Capricorn, and no one will explain to Meggie what is going on, who Capricorn and Dustfinger are, or what all of this has to do with a book called Inkheart. Meggie, Mo, and Dustfinger seek refuge at the home of their book-obsessed relative, Elinor. But it isn’t long before Mo’s past catches up with them. When a bunch of thugs steal Mo and Inkheart, Meggie learns of her father’s ability to read characters out of books, discovers the truth about her mother’s disappearance nine years earlier, and prepares to embark on a dangerous adventure to rescue her father from the clutches of Capricorn.
This fantasy adventure will greatly appeal to all readers who have ever imagined joining characters in the world of their story–or having those characters come to life in their own lives. It is a long book, but fast-paced with beautiful imagery and complex characters. I also recommend the audio book–although it is quite long (15 hrs!)–as Lynn Redgrave’s performance really brings the book to life.
SAVVY by Ingrid Law
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Thirteenth birthdays are a big deal in the Beaumont house, because that is the age when every Beaumont child receives their “savvy”–the unique special power that everyone in the family inherits. Fish has the power to create storms. Rocket has power over electricity. But a few days before Mibs reaches her savvy birthday, her father is in a horrible car accident and slips into a coma. As Momma and Rocket rush off to see him in the hospital in Salina, Mibs, Fish, and their younger siblings get left under the care of the preacher and his wife, Miss Rosemary, who know nothing of savvy birthdays.
Miss Rosemary is intent on throwing Mibs a party to keep her mind off of the family tragedy, but Mibs just wants to be left alone to figure out what her savvy is. A newborn, uncontrolled savvy can be a dangerous thing. But in the middle of the night on her savvy birthday, strange things begin to happen. First Mibs seems to wake her sister, Gypsy, from a deep sleep, using her mind. Then she brings her brother Samson’s dead pet turtle back to life. Realizing that her savvy must be the ability to wake things, Mibs decides to run away to Salina to wake her father from his coma. Under cover of birthday party chaos, Mibs makes her escape. It is not as subtle as she planned, however, and she winds up with a motley crew of traveling companions: Fish, Samson, and Miss Rosemary’s children, sixteen year old Bobbi and fourteen year old Will Junior. The children stow away in the back of a Bible delivery bus, and their road-trip adventure begins.
Although Savvy definitely falls within the genre of fantasy, its focus is grounded in reality–dealing with themes of family and relationships, growing up, individuality, and dealing with tragedy. Yet the tone of the book is not too dark. It has its serious moments and its funny moments. I greatly enjoyed this Newbery Honor book, and would recommend it to middle grade readers!
If you liked Savvy, you might like Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech.
RAPUNZEL’S REVENGE by Dean, Shannon, & Nathan Hale
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Rapunzel’s mother, Gothel, raised her in a beautiful home surrounded by luscious gardens–the product of Gothel’s growth magic–and a high stone wall which separated them from the outside world. When Rapunzel grows old enough to wonder what lies beyond the wall, she disobeys her mother’s orders and climbs to the top. There she sees the barren wasteland outside her mother’s protected garden, land stripped of all fertility by the witch’s powers and peopled by laboring peasants, Gothel’s slaves. Rapunzel also learns that one of the peasants is her true mother, from whom Gothel stole her in infancy. When Rapunzel confronts the witch with her new knowledge, Gothel takes her to a far off forest and imprisons her in the hollow of a tall, tall tree. Gothel expects that her “daughter” will eventually come to her senses and choose to support the system of slavery that keeps them living in luxury. Instead, Rapunzel grows increasingly bitter in her isolation. Gothel’s growth magic that made the tree tall also makes Rapunzel’s hair grow quickly and soon she has enough to create a lasso to help her in her escape. Teaming up with a young thief named Jack, Rapunzel adventures across the desert countryside, trying to devise a plan to destroy Gothel’s empire and using her hair to bring vigilante justice to the lawless towns she passes through.
This adventurous Wild West retelling of Rapunzel is tons of fun. The graphic novel format is perfect for the story’s fantastic action sequences. Plus, it is very, very funny! I highly recommend this book to middle grade and teen readers.
The sequel Calamity Jack came out recently and I am very excited to read it!
ARTEMIS FOWL by Eoin Colfer
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Artemis Fowl, Jr., is not your average twelve-year-old. For one thing, he is the son of an incredibly wealthy crime lord and has grown up surrounded by advanced technology and bodyguards. For another, since his father’s disappearance and the onset of his mother’s mental illness, Artemis has virtually no adult supervision, managing his own life and the family’s assets. And most importantly, Artemis is a genius. It is precisely his unique position on the boundary of childhood and very mature adulthood that allows him to perpetrate his latest scheme–because when he learned of the existence of fairies, he was just innocent enough to believe in them, and plenty brilliant enough to concoct a foolproof plan to extort their gold.
After stealing the Book of the People from an alcoholic sprite in Vietnam, Artemis returns to his home in Ireland to crack the fairy language and learn all of their secrets. He then proceeds to Phase Two of the plan: kidnap a fairy and hold him for ransom, threatening to reveal their secret, underground world to the humans if the Lower Elements Police (LEP) do not comply with his financial demands. Unfortunately for Artemis, he kidnapped Captain Holly Short, an officer in the LEP Recon division, and she just may be his match. While Artemis uses his brilliant mind to stay one step ahead of Commander Root and the LEP technology, and his formidable bodyguard Butler keeps the perimeter secure, Holly tries to find a way to escape and take down the super-genius “mud-man.”
This book is a great blend of science fiction and fantasy, popular among upper elementary and middle grade readers (and certain nerdy librarians . . . ). The characters are fantastic, there is a decent amount of action, and humor is blended in quite nicely. I highly recommend this series to both eager and reluctant readers. There are eight books in the series.
GREGOR THE OVERLANDER by Suzanne Collins
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If you are one of those people who believes that there must be a colony of gargantuan rats and cockroaches living under the streets of New York City, consider your paranoid fears vindicated. When Gregor’s baby sister crawls into an air vent in the basement of their apartment building, he follows her down a long dark chute and into the Underland. Fortunately, they are found by the friendly giant cockroaches and not the malicious six-foot-tall rats. The cockroaches bring them to the city of the Underland humans. There, Gregor learns that his father who disappeared two years earlier fell down the same chute and ended up prisoner of the rats. He also learns that he himself may be the warrior hero mentioned in an ancient Underland prophecy. Together with the snobby young Underlander queen and her insufferable cousin, two loyal bats, two kind cockroaches, and the snarky, bitter traitor rat, Ripred, Gregor and his baby sister set off on a quest to save the Underland human race from destruction.
This is definitely one of my favorite children’s fantasy series. The overall tone of the book is somewhat dark but also incredibly humorous. Collins also uses the series to challenge some of the notions of right vs. wrong and heroism vs. barbarism that are often taken for granted in heroic fantasy literature. And she is simply an excellent writer. If you enjoyed the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson series, or Suzanne Collins’ other series, The Hunger Games, you should check out this book! There are four subsequent books in the series: Gregor and the Prophecy of the Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw. Personally, I think they get even better, the farther you get into the series!
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