For this
compilation post, I am happy to present a compilation featuring a few
middle-grade books from authors I enjoy. If you have read any of these stories,
please add your opinions in the comments below. And, if you have any to
recommend – or avoid! – please let me know that in the comments as well!
Please also beware of spoilers if
you haven’t read the previous stories in each of these series. I do avoid
spoilers as best I can, so know there aren’t major spoilers. I don’t, say, give
away the endings of the stories.
The Empty Grave (Sept. 12, 2017) by Jonathan Stroud.
There is nothing
quite like a nighttime masquerade into a heavily guarded mausoleum. Those at
Lockwood & Co. are adept and therefore manage to get into the mausoleum
undetected. They are looking for the body of a certain someone, and they find a
body, but it’s not the one that should be there. And so begins their secretive
research (they are being sporadically watched and followed) – “their” being
Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle, George Cubbins, Holly Munro and Quill Kipps. This
is on top of their usual jobs from a Lurker in an apartment above a Chinese
restaurant to La Belle Dame Sans Merci
and jobs in-between. But it’s what they’re researching that may pose the
biggest threat to them all. These young operatives will have to survive attacks
from foes of both the spectral and human varieties to overcome the real cause
of the Problem.
This group headquartered at 35
Portland Row, London, are an eclectic and crafty bunch. The author has created
distinctly different characters with their own strengths and weaknesses. My one
bother of the entire series is the lack of diversity. Holly’s character is the
only notable one that lends a speck of diversity to a landscape that is both
realistic and otherworldly. Having now read all five stories in the Lockwood & Co. series (this being
the ultimate story), this is disappointing, as Stroud is so otherwise masterful
with this series. It is clever and clandestine, haunted (literally, in
locations), humorous and delightfully creepy. Stroud’s writing sucks you into a
believable world and spits you back out, though hopefully without being
ghost-touched and with all of your appendages intact.
The Ship of the Dead (Oct. 3, 2017) by Rick Riordan.
Thor. Odin.
Loki. Valkyrie. Valhalla. Before Riordan’s Magnus
Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, that’s about all I could tell you
about Norse mythology. But now, the things I know! (Okay, that was an
exaggeration, though I definitely know more about Norse mythology than I did.)
“The Ship of the Dead” is the final
book in the trilogy. Do I wish this series were continuing? Naturally. In the
first book, Magnus turned 16. While he should have been awaiting his driver’s
license, he’d already been homeless for two years, as his only living parent
(mom) had been killed two years before. But he had his best homeless buddies,
Blitz and Hearth, to look out for him. And at his ripe old age, his life turned
into, “Now that you’re 16, there’s a good chance you’ll die soon. Surprise!
Have a happy birthday!”
So Magnus dies and winds up in
Valhalla, thanks to a Valkyrie named Samirah al-Abbas. He learns that he’s the
demigod son of Frey, the god of spring and summer. In truth, Magnus is a Vanir
(gods of nature) demigod, and their afterlife is overseen by Magnus’ aunt Freya
(goddess of love and twin of Frey) in Folkvanger. Yet he is in Valhalla, which
is the army that serves Odin. He also learns that Blitzen is actually a svartalf (a.k.a. dark elf, but still
actually a dwarf) and Hearthstone is an elf. Hearth is deaf, which his father
found embarrassing and appalling, and Blitz has an amazing sense of style. Magnus
is also armed with Jack (a.k.a. Sumarbrander,
the Sword of Summer).
By the third book, Magnus has his
best floormates: TJ (Thomas Jefferson, Jr., a dead Civil War soldier), Mallory
Keen (of Irish descent who wields knives very well), Halfborn Gunderson (a
berserker) and Alex Fierro (he/she is gender fluid). Much of the time, they
spend their days in Valhalla doing battle to the death (whether actual battle,
yoga, pottery, etc. – it sounds quite intense) and getting reincarnated. But
they also go on quests. In this book, on “The good ship Mikillgulr!” which, as a nickname, is the “Big Banana,” but the
better translation means “big yellow.” Magnus dreams of Loki and his nasty ship
of the clipped toenails and fingernails of the dishonorable dead, Naglfar, which means, naturally, the
Ship of Nails. Yuck.
Loki, being free, is trying to start
Ragnarok. But before they can attempt
a flyting with him, they’ve gotta
survive Aegir’s vengeful giant daughters, a tveirvigi
with another giant, vatnavaettir
(water horses), Hearth’s dragon-dad, thrall
giants (i.e. giants that are slaves), more giants in general that mean them
harm and a meeting with Njord (Vanir god of the sea) and his beautiful feet who
also happens to be Magnus’ grandfather.
Like in Riordan’s other books, “The
Ship of the Dead” is full of action and adventure right from the first chapter.
I am always impressed by the diversity of characters he creates and appreciate
him more for it. Because not only are his characters diverse, they are complex,
each with distinct personalities and backgrounds. You never think, “Wow.
Halfborn is pretty much the same as Alex.” Nope. Never. And while many of the
problems are on a fictionally gigantic scale centering on the end of the world
as everyone, including us non-magic mortals, knows it, there are also things
that people may relate to. For instance, Hearth and his maltreatment by his
father. So what if he’s an elf? Bullying is no small thing, and in Riordan’s
world, it extends past the world of humans. This novel is resplendent in its
wit and prose, and it never ceased entertaining me.
The Silver Mask (Oct. 10, 2017) by Holly Black and
Cassandra Clare.
Magical prison
is not like television prison at all. Well, except for the main character being
framed and all that. But Callum “Call” Hunt finds himself in the Panopticon
until he isn’t. (Thank goodness for a Devoured of fire!) Call has been blamed for
a devastating death, and he’s also feared for the soul they think he houses.
But Call is just Call. He leaves one prison for another, and he’s tasked to do
the unthinkable; it is something that not even Constantine Madden achieved. The
power of chaos can work for good, but is so often thought of as wicked, because
even in the best of times, chaos magic is destructive. And Call isn’t the only
one wielding chaos magic, only the other person wasn’t imbued with it from
birth, nor was it willingly granted to him with, say, a chaos mage’s soul. No.
It was stolen, and that mage died.
Just like I would’ve loved an
acceptance letter to Hogwarts, so, too, would I have gladly been an aspirant
hoping to be selected by a senior mage as an apprentice and to learn at the
Magisterium for five years. The fourth story in the Magisterium series, I read through it almost as swiftly as a
Devoured of fire can destroy a magical prison. While middle-grade, this series
ramped up its intensity. It’s not about
learning how to control and use magic in the Magisterium anymore; in fact,
Call’s never there in this story. Life has reached critical mass when it comes
to the nature of a soul, the dignity of life and death and what it is to secure
true friendship, especially when that friendship is severely tested. Like the
others, this story is filled with magic and wonder, and I can’t wait to read
what happens next!
