With all of the other posts floating around my blog this
year, I almost considered forgoing a “Hodgepodge” compilation. As it were, I
like the variety that tends to come with a hodgepodge post, both in terms of
age range and genres. Happy reading!
Graphic novel fiction.
*This is the second graphic novel in a series.*
What would pair well with the Potion of Unlimited Snacks?
The Goblet of Infinity, of course! Squash and Ginny portal to the Land of the
Unibears, one of the “most beautiful forests in the spirit-magic universe!” The
two locate the chest, but it’s empty. Fern, a Unibear, informs them that the
Goblet must be with the evil Dragon Witch. On their journey to the Dragon
Witch, they encounter King Bum Bum (a bullfrog) of Bum Bum Bog, helping to
clean up and undo the waste caused by a magic converter (Fern helps
reluctantly). Then they meet Cinder, a demon, who’s having trouble rolling a
wheel of cheese up a steep hill. Fern doesn’t trust the Dust Demon, but Squash
and Ginny want to help. At the top, they’re introduced to the Dragon Witch, and
she’s … not scary! She’s happy to entertain guests, share lots of good food and
provide a safe spot for a sleepover. The Dragon Witch has enchanted cookware,
but she does not have the Goblet of Infinity. If she doesn’t, who does?
I’ve never
purchased a graphic novel, and this is only the second one I’ve checked out
from the library. When I saw my library had this one, I grabbed it because I found
the first one to be so delightful. Fortunately, this one follows the delightful
thread. Not only are the graphics colorful and simple yet bold, but the text is
easy to understand. The story moves seamlessly. I like that it’s not only about
obtaining the Goblet, but showing kindness and friendship, focusing on the
characters and not their outward appearances, and being deserving of second
chances. This story is PAWsitively adorable and completely family-friendly.
Book 1: The Quest for Snacks
Film scrapbook – nonfiction, but is likely grouped with other
Harry Potter fiction.
*This is a standalone, but the author has written
extensively about the Harry Potter
films.*
Anyone who’s read all of the books or watched all of the
movies – or both – will already be familiar with the relationships surrounding
Harry Potter, friend and foe, classmate, Hogwarts professor or staff, etc. But
this book delves further, giving some behind-the-scenes information. There are
quotes from the actors and concept art, amongst other features.
Like the
other Revenson film book I’ve read, I checked this out from my local library.
While I don’t feel the need to own them, they’d add to a diehard fan’s memorabilia
collection nicely. I appreciate that the profiles aren’t lengthy, yet feel
detailed. While I’m familiar with all of the characters featured, it was fun to
see concept art photos, though the ones of Dobby, well, let’s just say I’m
really glad that they settled on the version of Dobby that they did!
Also by
Jody Revenson in: Rutabaga’s Reads 2022: Part 6.jpg)
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Never After: The Stolen Slippers (Feb.
1, 2022) by Melissa de la Cruz.
Middle-grade fantasy
fiction.
*This is the second
novel in a series.*
What Filomena Jefferson-Cho thought to be true has been
turned on its head yet again. Cinderella is no servant with an evil stepmother
and two wicked stepsisters. No. Cinderella is the villain; she’s a
thief. Her twin stepsisters, Hortense and Beatrice, are delightful, caring and
beautiful. Filomena, together with Jack the Giant Stalker, Alistair (Jack’s
trusted wingman) and Gretel (the Cobbler’s fashionable daughter), must
find a way onto the Queen of Hearts’ grounds in Leastphalia
without, well, losing their heads. This is after their calamitous candy house
escape (but the candy and sweets sure tasted good). Filomena and her friends
want to retrieve the slippers, as they are rightfully Hortense’s. Hortense is
in love with Prince Charlemagne (Charlie), also dubbed Prince Charming.
While I
know twisted fairytales aren’t for everyone, I tend to enjoy them, and I enjoy
this series immensely. The author is wildly imaginative and brings her stories
to life with her vivid world-building and themes at once familiar and
topsy-turvy. There are also struggles, like when Jack wonders what it means to
be a hero, and life lessons, such as Filomena learning that words can
completely change a story, in taking truths and making them lies, for
example. The story is filled with plucky banter and fast-paced action on
top of a fractured plot that is, like the first book, filled with the
fantastical, fantasy, magic, strongly fleshed out main and supporting
characters and an expected amount of middle-school angst. This is, after all, a
middle-grade novel. It will have wide appeal, but not for those looking for an
intensely dark novel. With adventure and whimsy, Never After is a place I’d
happily visit, as long as ogres aren’t out to eat me.
Book One in
the Never After series: The Thirteenth Fairy
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The Silver Secret
(Dec. 1, 2020) by Astrid Foss.
Monique Dong, illustrator.
Chapter book fantasy
fiction.
*This is the first book in a series.*
There is a selfish witch (Veronika, the Shadow Witch), and she’s
managed to abduct Nordovia’s Keeper of the Lights, Freya Aurora, and her
husband, Magnus Aurora. The Everchanging Lights sustain and protect the island,
but Freya traps them in three orbs of light to keep them away from Veronika. Freya’s
and Magnus’ triplet daughters, all green-eyed and looking toward coming into
magical powers as they celebrate their twelfth birthdays, must go on a quest to
locate the first orb. All three must be retrieved before the Day of the
Midnight Sun, which brings strong magic, and is only a few weeks away. Ida
(blond-haired), Magna (brown-haired) and Hannah (red-haired) set off with their
polar bear cub, Oskar, who can magically grow in size, as all Nordovian polar
bears have this ability, and come across Gregor, the falconer’s apprentice.
The first
in the Snow Sisters series is cute,
and the pacing is steady and fast-moving. The prose is complemented by
illustrations created with a light touch and delicately sweeping lines as
opposed to heavy, bold ones. The main characters all read as a white default,
though one scene involving a crowd shows some diversity. This isn’t a series I
plan to continue, but it might be right up a young reader’s alley if that
person appreciates magic, lovely gowns, arctic animals and snow.
To Steal a Heart
(Nov. 17, 2020) by Jen Turano.
Christian historical
fiction.
*This is the first novel in a series.*
It’s been years since Gabriella Goodhue was a street thief.
That was in her childhood (she dressed as a boy and went by Gabe back then),
but when a fellow resident (Jennette Moore) at the boardinghouse she resides at
is unjustly accused of the theft of precious diamond and sapphire jewels,
Gabriella puts her old skills to use. While investigating under the
hastily-named Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency (it’s the boardinghouse),
Gabriella encounters Nicholas Quinn. He was her best friend when they were
child-sized street thieves, both under the guidance of Humphrey Rookwood.
Nicholas was taken under the wing of a gentleman professor soon after Gabriella
was caught thieving in their childhood. She’d always wondered why Rookwood
never came for her and Nicholas never looked for her. While their reunion is
fraught with tension, it is clear that they still care for each other.
Together, they will clear Jennette’s name, along with the help of many others,
most of whom are friends that Gabriella was afraid to let become friends (like
Daphne Beekman, also a boardinghouse resident, Eunice, the woman who runs the
boardinghouse, and Monsieur Phillip Villard, who isn’t actually French, but
effects a French accent at the dress shop he owns and Gabriella works at). They
know Jennette is innocent, so who is the Knickerbocker Bandit who’s already
been involved in at least two dozen thefts? The Pinkertons have been called to
help investigate. With Gabriella and Nicholas reunited, their childhood
affection will have the chance to grow into newfound love, but can it survive
the truths about their pasts that they will discover? Will they survive the
danger that lurks closer than they think?
This Gilded
Age-era novel takes place in late 1886. I always appreciate Turano’s feisty,
independent female protagonists, clever dialogue and fast-paced storylines. I
thrill when the antagonists get their due (yes, even if an antagonist dies, because
no one wants a violent, retaliatory antagonist on the loose). “To Steal a Heart”
is the first in Turano’s The Bleecker
Street Inquiry Agency series, and it’s a literary showpiece. Her tale is
expressive, and the scenes are lavishly-imagined, especially those that involve
balls and historical details that must’ve taken research to create. I want to
be friends with the assorted group from the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency, and
I look forward to the key players in the next stories, all of whom I’m guessing
we’ve already met in this opening novel.
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