Hiatus over - resuming the reviews on My Comfy Chair

After a much needed six month break working on other projects, I am resuming my review activities on My Comfy Chair. Watch for new reviews over the next few days. On deck, a new middle grade adventure called The Storm Makers by Jennifer E. Smith.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday - Un Lun Dun

Un Lun Dun published in U.S. by Del Rey in Jan 2008
Author: China Miéville
Purchased personally

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday again, and I'm proud to be part of this great tradition started by Shannon Whitney Messenger promoting middle grade books.

I was browsing through Mac's Backs, a wonderful independent bookstore near us, and I happened upon Un Lun Dun without ever having heard of it before. As I very much enjoyed The City and The City, I bought the book to see if China Miéville could do as good a job with middle grade as he had with adult science fiction.

Like some wonderful mix between The Phantom Tollbooth, No Passengers Beyond This Point and Neverwhere, this book takes kids on a wonderful, somewhat scary but ultimately fantastic voyage through an abcity beneath London populated by fantastical creatures who have seeped down from London.

Filled with wordplay and incredibly imaginative characters, this should be appealing to 5th to 7th graders, as well as many older teens and adults who are willing to give it a try. While the main characters are girls, this is a book that will appeal equally to boys and girls. I would strongly recommend it.

Five stars!

Purchase a copy on Amazon.com
...or on Amazon.co.uk

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday was started by Shannon Whitney Messenger. She, and others frequent MMGM posters are:

Shannon Whitney Messenger at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe
Joanne Fritz at My Brain on Books
Shannon O'Donnell at Book Dreaming
Brooke Favero at somewhere in the middle
Myrna Foster at Night Writer
Sherrie Petersen at Write About Now
Kimberley Griffiths Little at Kimberley’s Wanderings
Barbara Watson at Novel and Nouveau

If you watch those blogs today, as well as Shannon's blog, you are likely to find other great middle grade book recommendations.

Digital Debuts: Enchantment by Charlotte Abel

Enchantment
Author: Charlotte Abel
Purchased from Amazon.com

Enchantment is an absolutely delightful and original book. It could be described as paranormal romance, but it is a far cry from the girl-meets-werewolf/vampire stories that abound. It combines magic, treachery, humor and thrills, as well as a rampant simmering sexuality that might seem out of place if you had not dealt with a teenage girl recently.

Channie Belks lives a hardscrabble life with her parents and siblings, crammed together in a small shack in the Ozark Mountains, but everything is about to get a lot worse. Her father's gambling leads to a nasty run-in with a powerful mage family, and the family has no choice but to leave in a hurry. Unsafe among any of the magic folks, they hide in a town of Magically Disabled people (like you and me). Channie, who has never been to a regular school, is suddenly faced with a very unfriendly student body, and prevented from using the one power she has that might have allowed her to make friends.

On the other hand, she meets Josh, a hot BMX racer with a killer smile, so perhaps you could call it even. Except for the curse.

That is what Enchantment is like, though I could never do it justice. Every corner hides a pitfall, but Channie faces them all. Not happily, or even nicely, but she faces them. We get carried along for the ride, and it is a wild one. I absolutely love the wonderful Ozark language and mentality, funny and different while never getting in the way. The book is flat out fun to read.

Younger readers, or squeamish parents, may have a little trouble with the obsession with sex. It is barely ever acted on or visible, and most girls over the age of 13 will have read stronger stuff, but I thought I should point that out. As for the magic, the folklore and the snappy plot, I can see those appealing to all ages.

Highly recommended. Five Stars!

Pick up a copy of Enchantment on Amazon.com or on BarnesAndNoble.com

Interview with Wren Emerson

In mid-June, I posted about a wonderful Digital Debut: Wren Emerson's I Wish..., the first book in a Young adult series titled The Witches of Desire. Recently, I was lucky enough to get Wren to spare a bit of time to answer questions.

Thus, I bring you my first interview, with the talented Wren Emerson:

1) When did you start writing, and when did you start thinking of yourself as a writer?

That's a hard one. I've always written. Not always with the clear intention of getting published, but I've always felt compelled to put words on a page and express myself that way. When I heard about indie publishing and decided that's what I wanted to do for a living, I started to think of myself as writer. Wild horses wouldn't have pried that out of my mouth to another living person though. I still don't necessarily bring up my writing when I talk to people in real life. I'm actually a little shy about the idea of people who already know me in a real life context knowing that I write.

I anticipate changing that when we move this summer. I plan to introduce myself as an author to the new people we meet and that's all they'll ever know me as. I guess what I'm saying is that it's much easier for me to reinvent myself than to try to change the impression of me that people already have as a non-writer.

2) Did you start by publishing short stories, or dive right into a novel?

I find short stories to be really hard for me. I'm working on several right now for different projects and oh boy. I started with I Wish and in a lot of ways I think it was far easier to write than any short story ever will be for me. I just don't think short, I suspect.

3) I've seen that you like to outline. Have you always written like that, or is it a learned habit?

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Nate Rocks the World

Nate Rocks the World independently published.
Author: Karen Pokras Toz
Free copy sent by author after request

I have a backlog of books to review, most with partial reviews saved in draft mode, but I decided to do a Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (woefully neglected for the past several weeks) on another self-published book.
Nate Rockledge is ten years old, and he has many of the difficulties boys of his age face. His mother is a truly terrible cook. His father reminisces endlessly about past glories. His thirteen year old sister taunts him mercilessly.

But Nate has a secret. Like a fourth grade Walter Mitty, Nate dreams of heroic adventures where he saves the day, and often the life of the cute Madeline who lives across the street, although Nate does.not.like.girls! Unfortunately, after saving the day, he is left with little but the comics he draws and the wish that he could do something real. Little does he know how close the chance for real heroics is.

I love the way the author seamlessly blends Nate's real life and his fantasies of heroism and excitement. Middle grade readers, especially on the younger end, will easily relate to the loose boundaries between real life and fantasy, and will also instantly relate to the real trials and tribulations Nate faces with his family and friends.

I can easily recommend this book for both boys and girls in third through fifth grade. I'm glad to have had a chance to read it.

Four out of five stars.

Buy 'Nate Rocks the World' on Amazon.com

Normally, there are several bloggers who participate in Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, but since it is the 4th of July holiday here in the United States, most are taking a holday. The only other I have found so far is Deb Marshall, who is Canadian. She profiles Leslie Carmichael (Lyranel's Song and The Amulet of Amon-Ra), and has an interview with the author plus a giveaway. See her post HERE.

Review: Hogwash by Karma Wilson

Hogwash! published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers June 2011
Author: Karma Wilson
Illustrator: Jim McMullan

Every once in a while, a picture book comes along where everything just works perfectly. This is one that is destined to be a classic. The sense of humor is enhanced by clever rhymes and fabulous illustrations. I had to share this with my wife, who has taught younger kids and has an early childhood education background, and she couldn't stop raving about it. With most books sent to us by the publisher for review, I pass them on to local schools or libraries, but we're hanging on to this to share with our (not yet born) grandkids.

The story is a wonderful, boisterous tale of a farmer determined to clean up his animals, and a bunch of pigs determined to stay muddy. It has a sense of fun and engagement similar to Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, another great book, although I think Hogwash! is even more perfect for reading over and over. I particularly love that the language is rich and beautiful while remaining accessible to young children. The text rhymes, but it is done cleverly and never dumbed down, so that a child would love the rhythmic sound without necessarily even realizing that it rhymed. My wife also noted that the signs the pigs post for the farmer are of a size and style that would encourage beginning readers to pick out the meaning, but still introduce new words.

At the risk of gushing, if you have a young child or grandchild, especially one who loves rhymes and fun and reading aloud, please order a copy of this. You could get it from a library first if you don't believe me, but trust me, you'll buy it eventually.

Five Stars!

Buy from Amazon.com
Buy from Amazon.ca
Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Digital Debuts: Wren Emerson's I Wish...

I Wish... (The Witches of Desire) published by Lakehouse Press May 2011
Author: Wren Emerson

This is my second review in a series called Digital Debuts in which I review debut books for young adults (or younger) by authors who have chosen to publish in eBook format only, at least to start. Usually, these will be self-published, or as good as self-published, and thus usually under $5. They are also great books that will entertain and provoke, but not disappoint.

Product description:

Thistle Nettlebottom knows her life isn't exactly normal. She travels the country with her secretive mother and bestselling author grandmother in a pink RV going from book signings to crazy research trips. She's never been to public school or had a boyfriend, but she can pick a lock and hotwire a car. One day the phone rings and they set a course to a tiny town that's not on any maps. Suddenly, Thistle finds her whole life changing.

From this rather odd beginning, we launch quickly into an almost dystopian world where Thistle, whose real name turns out to be something else, must cope with the Witches of Desire. That is to say, witches in the town of Desire, and a more competitive, nasty lot you will have trouble finding anywhere.

Desire is a matriarchal society, and Thistle faces a constant struggle to stay safe, and even alive, due to powers she never knew she had. If only her powers would let her know who was truly a friend and who was not. Or let her know whether to pursue the enticing-but-verboten Ben or the handsome-but-too-compliant Evan.

In her debut novel, Wren Emerson weaves an exciting and different world, and you will quickly find yourself lost in the intrigue and danger. Meant for older teens and young adults, this is only the first in a planned series, and I am sure that readers will be lining up to buy the sequel when it comes out.

In fact, my biggest objection to the novel was the somewhat abrupt ending, a common objection with YA books in series these days. If this were a traditionally published print book and we had to wait six months to a year for the sequel, I would hold that against the author, but since this is published as an ebook, I may let it slide... if she will hurry up and get the sequel out.

I Wish... is $2.99, and well worth the price. Give it a try, and let me know what you think. I believe this is a series, and an author, you will want to follow.

Four stars out of five.

Buy 'I Wish...' on Amazon.com
Buy on Amazon.co.uk
Buy on Amazon.de