The Mad Wolf's Daughter (MMGM review)

The Mad Wolf's Daughter
Author: Diane Magras
Kathy Dawson Books (March 6, 2018)

This is the second week in a row participating in Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, and as I mentioned last week, the second debut middle grade novel that launches a series I know may will loved and look forward to. You can read other MMGM picks linked at Greg Pattridge's MMGM page.

A Scottish medieval adventure about the youngest in a war-band who must free her family from a castle prison after knights attack her home--with all the excitement of Ranger's Apprentice and perfect for fans of heroines like Alanna from The Song of the Lioness series.

One dark night, Drest's sheltered life on a remote Scottish headland is shattered when invading knights capture her family, but leave Drest behind. Her father, the Mad Wolf of the North, and her beloved brothers are a fearsome war-band, but now Drest is the only one who can save them. So she starts off on a wild rescue attempt, taking a wounded invader along as a hostage.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this book, and especially about Drest, the heroine who won't give up until she saves her family, even if her family may turn out to be less than the stellar ideal she has in her head.

This book transports the reader back to medieval Scotland when girls were not expected to be as strong and brave as their brothers, and certainly not expected to become legends. I really like that Drest is as strong-willed and determined as she is without being unrealistic, and both her quest and her dealings with her captive and others show the power of both her spirit and her belief in what is right.

One of my favorite characters is Tig, a friend and ally Drest meets on the way. More than anything else, Tig believes in Drest, and helps her believe in herself.

A simply wonderful middle grade adventure with a simply terrific heroine, I can't wait read the sequel. (For those who worry, this book stands alone very well, but you'll want to spend more time with Drest and her world.)

I strongly recommend this for kids and anybody who loves an exciting adventure.

Five stars!

Buy The Mad Wolf's Daughter on Amazon US,
or find where you can buy it in a local indie bookstore.

Find the rest of the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday reviews for April 16th

Or you can read my last week's MMGM review of The Serpent's Secret.

My Brother Bernadette (review)

My Brother Bernadette
Author: Jacqueline Wilson
Egmont UK; Reprint edition (February 7, 2011)

Sara always gets lumbered with looking after her little brother Bernard, and summer project at the local school is no different. There’s so much to do—football, judo, trampolining, model car making, computer games, and drama. But all Bernard wants to do is clothes design. Soon all the kids, led by Big Dan, are calling Bernard "Bernadette" and shoving him around. Sara wants to help but is worried she may make it worse. But "Bernadette" is a little boy with big ideas, and he has a plan up his very nicely designed sleeve.

The story is mostly fun, and the characters are good, and the illustrations are friendly, but the story arc doesn't quite live up to the promise. I went looking for a book like this purposefully, which makes it more disappointing that it wasn't as good as I hoped. In my opinion, there are not enough books which question gendered activities (e.g., boys liking to design clothes). While this book does handle that, it winds up with a disappointing ending in that it features a comeuppance which kind of depends on those same gendered expectations.

I recommend this for kids and parents who are looking for stories which challenge gender preferences for toys and activities, but I do wish it were a stronger story arc.

Three stars.

My Brother Bernadette on Amazon US

The Serpent's Secret (MMGM review)

The Serpent's Secret
Author: Sayantani DasGupta
Scholastic Press (February 27, 2018)

It's been a while since I participated in Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, but I have a couple of books that I absolutely must share, both of them debut middle grade novels that launch series I know will be loved and anticipated by all their readers. You can read other MMGM picks linked at Greg Pattridge's MMGM page.

On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey… until her parents mysteriously vanish later that day and a rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns out there might be some truth to her parents’ fantastical stories—like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess—and a wealth of secrets about her origin they've kept hidden.

To complicate matters, two crushworthy Indian princes ring her doorbell, insisting they’re here to rescue her. Suddenly, Kiran is swept into another dimension full of magic, winged horses, moving maps, and annoying, talking birds...

I loved the cover of this book long before I got a chance to read it, but worried whether it would live up to the promise. Oh my gosh, does it ever. Kiran's parents seem wacky in the beginning, but as you travel with Kiran (as both you and she cling desperately on for dear life) into the magical world of this book, it turns out their stories are nothing but a pale shadow of the exciting, scary and hysterical world of snot and rakkoshes (all the rakkoshes!) she encounters as she tries to rescue them.

With riddles and puzzles and twists galore, this is a novel that will delight kids (when they can sneak the book back from their parents who will doubtless sneak it from them after they go to sleep). It is great fun to wallow in all the mythology Sayantani DasGupta throws in, and I am sure this will appeal to many due to its diversity, but most of all, it is an excellent adventure.

I strongly recommend this to kids and their parents and anybody who loves exciting adventure and a terrific sense of humor, and I can't wait for the sequel.

Five stars!

The Serpent's Secret on Amazon US

Find the rest of the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday reviews for April 9th

Nothing But Sky (review)

Nothing But Sky
Author: Amy Trueblood
Flux (March 27, 2018)

Grace Lafferty has been performing stunts as a wing walker with her uncle Warren and his barnstorming team since she was 13 years old. She fears that they will soon be forced out of the sky by bigger teams or stricter air regulations. Determined to keep her chosen family together, Grace will do whatever it takes to get to the World Aviation Expo where they can compete to win a lucrative contract with a Hollywood studio.

There's so much to like in this novel: gutsy Grace who risks all and ignores the taunts and threats that follow an independent young woman in the 1920s, the style and atmosphere of the post WWI barnstorming era, the authentic feeling of the budding romance between Grace and Henry, and the historical details about death-defying tricks performed by the daring young men and women of the time.

Through it all runs a sense of hope and optimism in a time when there were no safety nets, under the planes or under one's future. I related to the uncle who is trying to do his best by Grace while worrying he is doing something wrong, to Henry who is fighting his own demons from the war, but most of all to Grace whose indomitable spirit barely flags even when faced with cruelty or disaster.

While I enjoy the clear delineation of good and evil in this classic tale, I can imagine some will be slightly taken aback, as so many novels today dwell on the morally ambiguous. Those have their place, but I admit to enjoying a story where the morality is fairly clear throughout.

I recommend this to young adults and grownups (and even precocious younger teens) as an excellent tale with a strong female lead, a thrilling plot, and a wonderful sense of the roaring twenties.

Five stars!

Nothing But Sky on Amazon US