From: Beth Wright <bethlibrarian>
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 14:40:24 -0800 (PST)

My favorite middle-grade fantasy this year: The Stones are Hatching by Geraldine McCaughrean. Many an evil beastie out of folklore has returned to trouble the British Isles, and only reluctant young Phelim Green can stop them. The folkloric elements woven through the story are fascinating and often creepy (the Noonday Twister who spins men's heads around until...), the central characters are complex, and the plot has some genuine surpises. Spoiler warning...anyone who read it, did you think McCaughrean would really kill off Alexia? and then bring her back?


My favorite middle grade/young adult fantasy: The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner. Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis (from Turner's Newbery Honor book The Thief) is back to steal an even bigger prize. I thought the parallels between warring characters and warring countries were profound, and I was most impressed with the story's definition of love...as faith in the faithless, trust given when it hasn't been earned. I found it as moving as Madeleine L'Engle's books. It's also got a plot that won't quit.

My favorite illustrated book: So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George, illustrated by David Small. This book is so far above the usual books about presidential stuff. The facts are interesting and the illustrations are hilarious
(my favorite is Nixon in the bowling alley). I laughed the whole way through.

Beth Wright Youth Services Librarian Fletcher Free Library Burlington, Vermont
 


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Received on Wed 06 Dec 2000 04:40:24 PM CST