Fantasy – Page 26 – Unleashing Readers

The Scary Places Map Book by B.G. Hennessy

October 19, 2013October 19, 2013 by Kellee

Over the next 2 weeks, many of my reviews are going to be in honor of Halloween.

I am so happy to begin my two weeks of scary with:

The Scary Places Map Book: Seven Terrifying Tours
Author: B.G. Hennessy
Illustrator: Erwin Madrid
Published July 10th, 2012 by Candlewick

Goodreads Summary: Grab a flashlight for an after-dark exploration of seven very scary places. Giggles and goose bumps are in store!

Take a tour of seven spooky places, among them the Wicked Woods, a Ghostly Galleon, and the Western Terror-tories. Along the way, avoid booby traps, search for hidden objects, and learn basic map reading skills! A map key, items to look for, and points of interest, such as Dracula’s Castle and Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, are included for each eerie region. Tips for touring (never take the Transylvania tour during a full moon) add to the fun. Kids who love to mix the ghoulish with the humorous will pore over the atmospheric pictures time and again, transported to strange, mysterious, very scary places.

My Review: This book tells you seven stories through an interactive tour of a map. Each map has a different theme and starts with an introductory story. I loved thinking of all of the fun ways this could be used in the classroom!

Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: While reading, I thought of so many different ways that this book could be utilized in a classroom:

First, the book teaches map skills because it has a key and directs the reader to different sections of the map by using the grid system and the scale.

Second, the setting of each map would be a great jumping off point to writing a story.

Third, many of the settings are based off of books or history and would be easy to connect to novels. For example, the first map is “The Ghostly Galleon Cruise of the Seven Seas” which could be connected with the Young Jack Sparrow books. “Land of Mythical Monsters” is set in Greece so could connect to mythology and any book like The Lightning Thief. “Roundup of the Western Terror-tories” to The Case of the Deadly Desperados, “Tour of the Wicked Woods and Witchfield Village” to Tales of Dark and Grimm, “Trip Through Transylvania” to Dracula Doesn’t Drink Lemonade, “Sleepwalking Tour of Nightmare House” to All the Lovely Bad Ones, and “Museum of Haunted Objects” to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

I have been very lucky that over the last year or so to be in touch with B.G. Hennessy about this book. I’m honored that based on my original review, B.G. has begun to make a comprehensive list of books to go with each book. This list is so awesome! She includes picture books, beginning readers, chapter books, nonfiction books, and activity books for EACH MAP.

I am sure there are even more ways I am going to keep thinking about it. I, personally, cannot wait to use this in my classroom. (I also found out there is a facebook page for the book where teachers and the author can share their ideas- https://www.facebook.com/ScaryPlacesMapBook) B.G. Hennessy has also put together a teacher’s guide for the book which includes standards, vocabulary, activities, and more (which is written for elementary, but it can definitely by used for middle school as well!). Check it out on her website: http://bghennessy.com/ What a wonderful resource for teachers!

Discussion Questions: For each map, what are some books that you can connect the map to? How do the map and book connect?; [Writing Prompt] Using one of the maps in the Scary Places Map Book to be the setting of a narrative that you write. Challenge yourself and try to include at least 5 of the events or characters mentioned in the map.

We Flagged: “Land of Mythical Monsters: Who better to lead a tour through the birthplace of the foulest, ugliest, and fiercest monsters of all time than Hercules, a legend himself. This tour is for experts only. Pack your best hiking shoes and sunscreen. Mighty Hercules will meet you at Athena’s Temple. You will trek through snowcapped mountains, sail to the sunny island of Crete, and hike back to the dark door to the Underworld. Test your skills and see if you can make it through the Minotaur’s famous labyrinth.” (p. 7)

Read This If You Loved: Lightning Thief (series) by Rick Riordan, Dracula Doesn’t Drink Lemonade by Debbie Dadey, All the Lovely Bad Ones (and others) by Marry Downing Hahn, The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence, A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz, The Coming Storm (series) by Rob Kidd, The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Recommended For:

Blog Tour, Review, Giveaway, and Illustrator Interview!: The Real Boy by Anne Ursu, Illustrated by Erin McGuire

July 28, 2015October 12, 2013 by Kellee

We are so excited to be part of The Real Boy Blog Tour hosted by Walden Pond Press!

The Real Boy
Author: Anne Ursu
Illustrator: Erin McGuire
Published September 24th, 2013 by Walden Pond Press

Goodreads Summary: On an island on the edge of an immense sea there is a city, a forest, and a boy. The city is called Asteri, a perfect city that was saved by the magic woven into its walls from a devastating plague that swept through the world over a hundred years before. The forest is called the Barrow, a vast wood of ancient trees that encircles the city and feeds the earth with magic. And the boy is called Oscar, a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the Barrow. Oscar spends his days in a small room in the dark cellar of his master’s shop, grinding herbs and dreaming of the wizards who once lived on the island generations ago. Oscar’s world is small, but he likes it that way. The real world is vast, strange, and unpredictable. And Oscar does not quite fit in it.

But it’s been a long time since anyone who could call himself a wizard walked the world, and now that world is changing. Children in the city are falling ill, and something sinister lurks in the forest. Oscar has long been content to stay in his small room in the cellar, comforted in the knowledge that the magic that flows from the trees will keep his island safe. Now, even magic may not be enough to save it.

My Review: I love middle grade high fantasy! It is always amazing to me that an author is able to build an entire world that doesn’t exist and then puts these amazing characters and magic and story into this world. This is exactly what Anne Ursu did with The Real Boy. More importantly than my review of raving and raving about this book is the guest post I have to share today.

This is the second book that Erin McGuire and Anne Ursu collaborated on and Erin’s artwork adds an even more magic to an already magical story. Today, we are lucky to have Erin here to answer some questions about her work.

Kellee: I’d love to know about your past: When did you know you wanted to be an illustrator? Did you go to school for art? etc.

Erin McGuire: I’ve always loved drawing, and all throughout high school I kept sketchbooks, and still do to this day. My mother is a sixth grade teacher, so she often recommended new kid lit to me (she still does!) and always encouraged reading in general.

As for my education- I attended Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida as an illustration major. While I was a student there, I worked as a student librarian for four years. That was where I discovered Lisbeth Zwerger, Shaun Tan, Adam Rex, and all of the other illustrators who would influence my work.

K: I’m very interested in knowing about how illustrators and authors work together. Did you get the entire manuscript before beginning? Did you just get snippets? Do illustrations have to be approved before they go in the book? How do you choose what the characters are going to look like? Do you get character descriptions from the author? etc.

EM: Each project is a bit different depending on how much I’ll be involved. On books where I only do the covers, sometimes I don’t see the manuscript, just a book summary and a list of character descriptions. For Breadcrumbs and The Real Boy, I read the full manuscripts since I’d be illustrating all the interiors as well. Usually the editor or art director will email me a list of scenes they’d like for the interiors. The artwork always goes through an approval process, being approved by the art director, editor, and (in some cases, but not always) the author.

I did a lot of sketches for the characters to create the look for this world, how the upper and lower classes look different, what the fashion would be, how the rooms should look, etc. All of that was sent to Anne, who gave me some insights into her thought process for the time period and style of the world.

Rarely do I get to work with the author directly, it’s almost always with the editor and art director as middle men. This is intentional, and helps the illustrator focus on their work and sets some limits on how much one can influence the other.

K: You worked with Anne on Breadcrumbs as well – how did it come about that you became the illustrator for The Real Boy?

EM: Breadcrumbs was a really fun project for me, I felt like I was a good fit for that world, and illustrating Anne’s writing felt very natural to me. I think the team felt that I’d be a good fit for The Real Boy as well since I’d done some other fantasy work. My agent asked me if I was interested and I immediately emailed her back an “Absolutely.” As it turns out, I think The Real Boy is now my favorite project ever. It helps that I like drawing cats!

K: I noticed that The Real Boy is a mixture of pencil, ink, and possibly water color — How did you choose the style you are going to use for each book?

EM: The Real Boy felt like a much warmer story than Breadcrumbs. There are so many natural materials, animals, trees, even the magic itself feels natural in the story. I painted all of the Breadcrumbs illustrations digitally, and I didn’t think that same style would make sense for The Real Boy. So for this book, I did all of the illustrations on toned paper in pencil, and a mix of gouache, white chalk, and sometimes ink. All of them were scanned and touched up digitally, but starting out with a more natural drawing felt right for this story.

K: I also loved Darkbeast which you illustrated! Like The Real Boy and Breadcrumbs it is a middle grade fantasy novel. Many of the novels you have done the covers for or have illustrated are fantasy, but you also illustrated the new Nancy Drew Diaries — do you like illustrating fantasy or realistic fiction books better?

EM: It’s really hard to pick a favorite genre, but usually I prefer the stories that have a mix of both worlds (along the lines of Breadcrumbs, where the normal world is affected by fantasy elements in some way). Purely fantasy worlds are fun because you get to create how everything looks, how everyone dresses, and there are fewer rules. I spent a lot of time just gathering reference to create the world for The Real Boy. And I’ve always wanted to draw a fantasy map!

The more realistic work I’ve done (Nancy Drew) is fun in a different way because you just get to “go shopping” for those characters. I’ll go online to different clothing sites and pick out outfits for Nancy to wear. Every project has something different about it that appeals to me.

K: What are some other projects you’ve worked on?

EM: Along with Breadcrumbs and The Real Boy, I’ve worked on the Nancy Drew Diaries series, the Saranormal series, the Higher Power of Lucky series, a picture book called French Ducks in Venice, and covers for many other books. (The whole list is on my website http://www.emcguire.net/).

K: Can you share with us what projects you are working on now?

EM: I’m still working on Nancy Drew, and other projects that I’m not able to talk about yet. I’m also starting to write my own picture books, which is a totally different challenge, but exciting for me!

It is so fascinating how authors and illustrators work together. It really is magical.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: On top of the amazing world building and history building, Anne Ursu also writes beautifully. There are examples of figurative language usage all throughout the book. It would be an amazing piece of mentor text for writing workshop. Oh, and it would obviously be an amazing read aloud!

Discussion Questions: What makes someone human?; Do you think cats sense things that humans cannot?; If there was magic, do you think it’d make the world a better or worse place?

We Flagged: “Oscar and Callie sat in the library awhile longer, Callie scanning the books for more information, Oscar just sitting inside his mind. There were not answers about the children, but they did not even know what the questions were anymore. The world had ruptured once again. Even history could disappear under your feet.” (p. 185)

“There is a way the truth hist you, both hard and gentle at the same time. It punches you in the stomach as it puts it s loving arms around your shoulder.” (p. 206)

Read This If You Loved: The Darkbeast by Morgan Keyes, Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit, Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

Recommended For:

Don’t forget to visit the other Real Boy Blog Tour Stops:

Monday, 9/30 – Maria’s Melange – Maria’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Tuesday, 10/1 – There’s a Book – Danielle’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Wednesday, 10/2 – sharpread – Colby Interviews Anne

Thursday, 10/3 – Novel Sounds – Elena’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Friday, 10/4 – Word Spelunking – Aeicha Interviews Anne

Saturday, 10/5 – The Hiding Spot – Sara’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Sunday, 10/6 – The Brain Lair – Kathy’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Monday, 10/7 – Read, Write, Reflect – Anne Talks Oscar with Katherine

Tuesday, 10/8 – Librarian’s Quest – Margie’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Wednesday, 10/9 – Buried in Books – Heather’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Thursday, 10/10 – The Book Monsters – Kristen’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Friday, 10/11 – Cari’s Book Blog – Cari’s Take on The Real Boy + An Interview with Anne

Saturday, 10/12 – Unleashing Readers – Kellee Interviews Illustrator Erin McGuire + Giveaway

Sunday, 10/13 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers – Gina’s Take on The Real Boy + Giveaway

Monday, 10/14 – Heise Reads and Recommends – Editor Jordan Brown Interviews Anne
Tuesday, 10/15 – Bulldog Readers Blog – The Bulldog Readers Debut Their Book Trailer

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to Kellie at Walden Pond Press for a copy of The Real Boy for review and giveaway, for setting up the blog tour and review, and to Erin McGuire for her wonderful interview!

Blog Tour, Review, and Illustrator Guest Post!: The Snatchabook by Helen and Thomas Docherty

May 2, 2015October 11, 2013 by Kellee

This is part of the book blog tour for The Snatchabook by Helen & Thomas Docherty,
organized by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.

The Snatchabook
Author: Helen Docherty
Illustrator: Thomas Docherty
Published October 1st, 2013 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

Goodreads Summary: Where have all the bedtime stories gone?

One dark, dark night in Burrow Down, a rabbit named Eliza Brown found a book and settled down…when a Snatchabook flew into town.

It’s bedtime in the woods of Burrow Down, and all the animals are ready for their bedtime story. But books are mysteriously disappearing. Eliza Brown decides to stay awake and catch the book thief. It turns out to be a little creature called the Snatchabook who has no one to read him a bedtime story. All turns out well when the books are returned and the animals take turns reading bedtime stories to the Snatchabook.

My Review: This book has two very magical elements: the rhyming story and the fun illustrations. The story is one I cannot wait to read to my children. As Brian Selznick says, ” So wonderful it demands to be read out loud.” However, I feel that it is the illustrations that make this book really come to life. It is because of how much I loved the illustrations that when I was asked if I wanted to be part of The Snatchabook blog tour with a guest post, I knew I wanted to hear from Thomas. I am so happy to have his post here sharing what it was like to illustrate The Snatchabook:

The Snatchabook was a real pleasure to illustrate, as well as a lot of work. In fact, at the time of illustrating, it was probably the most complicated book I had done, because of having to create Burrow Down as well as all the woodland creatures that lived there.

I always start with a lot of pencil sketches, and although The Snatchabook came quite quickly, Eliza took a lot longer to develop as a character. At one point, I thought she was going to be a badger!

Once I was happy with the characters and where they lived, I started to plan out the story page by page. I talked through the roughs a lot with Helen and the publishers until everyone was happy and then I started on the final artwork.

I still work in quite a traditional way. I love the physicality of the tubes of paint, bottles of coloured ink, and thick watercolour paper. First I trace my rough drawings onto watercolour paper with acrylic ink and a dip pen using a light box. Then I stretch the paper and when it is dry, I begin to paint washes of colour using watercolour.

It was a lot of fun getting the feeling of suspense into the pictures, trying to make them edgy but not scary. I also love dramatic lighting, so I made sure I had plenty of cold moonlight outside the burrows and warm, cozy lamps inside. The windswept clouds and twisty trees were painted with a lot of dry brushwork and the cold blues in the book are some of my favourite colours.

The Snatchabook is a very rich story, full of drama, emotion and warmth and I hope that I manage to get all of those across to the reader in my illustrations.

I truly believe that he has met his goal! I love seeing how an artist gets from the ideas in his/her head to the amazing artwork that is shared with us!

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This book is a great read aloud. It has a lot of opportunities for predictions during the mystery part of the story. It also is a great book to use if discussing rhyming. And of course it can start a conversation about how we would feel if our books started disappearing!

Discussion Questions: How would you feel if your books started disappearing?; On pg. 6-7 it shares some of Burrow Downs’s books. What books to you think they are alluding to?; Write a story of your own using the same rhyme scheme as The Snatchabook.

We Flagged:
The little owls, on Mommy’s lap
were quite surprised to hear a tap
against their bedroom window glass.
Tap, tap! The noise came really fast.
Before they’d even looked around,
the book was gone—without a sound. (p. 8-9)

Read This If You Loved: We are in a Book by Mo Willems, Library Lion by Michelle Knudson

Recommended For:

Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron

December 27, 2013October 10, 2013 by Ricki

Man Made Boy
Author: Jon Skovron
Published: October 3rd, 2013 by Viking Penguin

GoodReads Summary: Love can be a real monster.

Sixteen-year-old Boy’s never left home. When you’re the son of Frankenstein’s monster and the Bride, it’s tough to go out in public, unless you want to draw the attention of a torch-wielding mob. And since Boy and his family live in a secret enclave of monsters hidden under Times Square, it’s important they maintain a low profile.

Boy’s only interactions with the world are through the Internet, where he’s a hacker extraordinaire who can hide his hulking body and stitched-together face behind a layer of code. When conflict erupts at home, Boy runs away and embarks on a cross-country road trip with the granddaughters of Jekyll and Hyde, who introduce him to malls and diners, love and heartbreak. But no matter how far Boy runs, he can’t escape his demons—both literal and figurative—until he faces his family once more.

This hilarious, romantic, and wildly imaginative tale redefines what it means to be a monster—and a man.

My Review: I was completely engrossed in this book. My favorite part about it dips into a wide variety of genres. Lovers of fantasy, romance, sci fi, and/or steampunk will find something to enjoy in the text. There are monsters, werewolves, computers, and lovers. Students will have a lot of fun exploring aspects of the book (because who doesn’t love to read about monsters?). Boy takes readers for quite a ride, and I envision this would make for a great literature circle choice. This modern extension of Frankenstein allows readers to place the classic text in a more relevant context. Readers will be able to revisit a few classics that they know and loved (or didn’t love). This is my favorite Jon Skovron book that I have read. It shows how clever he is.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Man Made Boy is an English teacher’s dream. It can be paired quite well with mythology and other classic monsters in history. I would love to pair Medusa’s scenes with a mythology unit. This would also bridge very well with The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The monsters of this book are ubiquitous in the literary canon, and I think students would have a lot of fun picking and researching classic monsters from the text.

Discussion Questions: What is a monster? Can humans be monsters? What kinds of demons do people confront?; Does Boy make the right decision when he decides to leave home?; Choose three monsters in the story. What do each of them teach us? How do their interactions with Boy help us understand him better?

Read This If You Loved: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Recommended For:

**Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for providing the Advanced Reader Copy for review!**

Journey by Aaron Becker

October 5, 2013 by Kellee

Journey
Author and Illustrator: Aaron Becker
Published August 6th, 2013 by Candlewick Press

Goodreads Summary: Follow a girl on an elaborate flight of fancy in a wondrously illustrated, wordless picture book about self-determination — and unexpected friendship.

A lonely girl draws a magic door on her bedroom wall and through it escapes into a world where wonder, adventure, and danger abound. Red marker in hand, she creates a boat, a balloon, and a flying carpet that carry her on a spectacular journey toward an uncertain destiny. When she is captured by a sinister emperor, only an act of tremendous courage and kindness can set her free. Can it also lead her home and to her heart’s desire? With supple line, luminous color, and nimble flights of fancy, author-illustrator Aaron Becker launches an ordinary child on an extraordinary journey toward her greatest and most exciting adventure of all.

My Review: This book is very hard to explain the magic of it. Lorna (@notforlunch) described it the best, I think: “a wonderful mashup of a David Wiesner book and Harold and the Purple Crayon.” I think this is perfect. It has the illustration beauty and magic of a wordless David Wiesner picture book and it is about creativity (and a crayon) like Harold. The beauty of the castle she visted also reminded me of Cathedral by David Macaulay. This book is just full of amazing! (You know it is good if it is a topic of #SharpSchu book club!)

Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: This was a bit hard for me. I can envision how this book would be used in the middle grades, but I was blanking on ideas for primary. I know this book needs to be shared, but how?

In my classroom, the first thing I would do is project the book and just have the students read it with me. No talking; just looking. Then we’d go back and discuss what is going on in the book, talk about some of the smaller parts of the illustrations, relive the journey. If I wanted to include a writing activity, we could add words to the book (although, I think this book’s illustrations stand alone). We could also discuss what we’d do if we had a magic crayon. I think this book would be a great addition to Dot Day and discussing creativity. Finally, I think a discussion of observing your surroundings would be appropriate as what the girl wanted the most was right in front of her at the beginning of the book.

Discussion Questions: What would you do with a magic crayon?; What was your favorite part of the journey?; Two parts remind me of Where the Wild Things Are, can you figure out which parts?; What do you think the girl’s name is?; Aaron Becker grew up in many different parts of the world including Japan. Can you find influences of Japan in this story? What about some of the other places he lived?

We Flagged:

Read This If You Loved: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, Blackout by John Rocco, David Weisner wordless picture books, Cathedral by David Macaulay, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Henri Mouse by George Mendoza, Chalk by Bill Thomson, Art & Max by David Weisner, Weslandia by Paul Fleishman, Narnia (series) by C.S. Lewis

Recommended For:

I put “Read Aloud” although this book is wordless; however, I know it needs to be shared with students. How would you share this book with your students in a read aloud fashion?

Guys Read: Other Worlds edited by Jon Scieszka

October 13, 2013September 20, 2013 by Kellee

Guys Read: Other Worlds
Edited by Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Greg Ruth
Published September 17th, 2013 by Walden Pond Press

Goodreads Summary: Other Worlds, the fourth volume in Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read anthology series for tween boys, features ten thrilling new tales of science fiction and fantasy from some of the biggest names in children’s literature.

Prepare yourself for ten trips into the unknown, as ten of your favorite writers—Rick Riordan, who has written an all-new and exclusive Percy Jackson tale, Tom Angleberger of Origami Yoda fame, Newbery medalist Rebecca Stead, Shannon Hale, D. J. MacHale, Eric Nylund, Kenneth Oppel, Neal Shusterman, Shaun Tan, and none other than the late Ray Bradbury—spin tales of fantasy and science fiction the likes of which you have never imagined.

Compiled by National Ambassador for Children’s Literature (and Secret Ambassador for the Intergalactic Alliance) Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Other Worlds is sure to boldly take you where no reader has gone before.

My Review: This was such an amazing short story anthology. Usually when you read a collection of short stories there are a few winners and a bunch of losers, but with this one there are a tone of winners and a couple runners-up.

Let’s talk about how awesome it is to read a new Ray Bradbury story and a phenomenal story at that. It is an amazing story about survival, life, and love. It is such an interesting concept (a world where you only live 8 days) and is executed so well (you wouldn’t expect any less from Bradbury). And it is just one of the amazing stories. The amazing list of authors in this book would impress anyone: Rick Riordan, Shannon Hale, DJ Machale, Tom Angleberger, Neal Shusterman, Rebecca Stead, Shaun Tan, Kenneth Oppel, Eric Nylund, and Ray Bradbury. I also love the variety of stories. There are fantasy and science fiction stories – Percy Jackson right next to a story about aliens – and there are serious and funny stories – Tom Angleberger’s hilarious Rise of the Roboshoes alongside The Klack Bros. Museum by Kenneth Oppel.

Even though I don’t want to pick favorites, I would say if you are going to pick and choose go with the stories by Hale, Angleberger, Shusterman, Tan, Oppel, and Bradbury.

Teacher’s Tools For Navigation: I think this book would be the best as a read aloud or in the classroom library. They are just great stories and need to be shared.

Discussion Questions: After reading ___[story title]___, why do you think it was chosen to be included in Other Worlds?; What do you think is the theme of The Dirt on our Shoes by Neal Shusterman?; Which of the stories were your favorite?; In Rise of the RoboShoes what could beat the Roboshoes?; Using the illustrations and story from A Day in the Life write a narrative about the boy.

We Flagged: “All fiction and storytelling is answering that “what if…” questions. But science fiction and fantasy go a step further: They bend the rules of reality. They get to imagine the “What if” in completely other worlds.

And that is why good science fiction and fantasy stories can be so mind-expandingly fun.” (from Scieszka’s intro, p. vii-viii)

Read This If You Loved: Any of the authors who contributed or Fantasy/Science Fiction in general

Recommended For:

**Thank you to Walden Pond Press for providing a copy for review!**

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

November 14, 2013September 19, 2013 by Ricki

The Dream Thieves
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Published: September 17th, 2013 by Scholastic Press

Summary: Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

Review: This sequel will not disappoint lovers of The Raven Boys. The book is written in multiple points of view, but in my opinion, Ronan’s perspective is the highlight of this installment of the series. He is tormented by terrible nightmares and his harrowing past. Each of the characters is further developed from the first novel, and I loved the new advancements. Additionally, readers are introduced to two, incredibly complex characters, The Gray Man and Kavinsky, who offer dark perspectives and are essential to the unfolding of the story. I loved the new characters and the intricacy of this story. I will admit that I missed the central focus on Blue and her household of psychics (as in The Raven Boys), but Blue certainly plays a strong role in this book. The psychics were my favorite part of the first book in the series. Stiefvater does a brilliant job in the development of Ronan’s story which adds an interesting twist to this book. I also enjoyed how she wove several, different plot threads. This book kept me guessing, and it is quite unpredictable, which made it a pleasure to read.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: It would be hard for teachers to introduce this text as a whole-class reading if students haven’t read the first book in the series. That said, teachers could set the context of the story and show samples of the darker passages from Ronan’s perspective to teach imagery and mood. If a small group chose it as a literature circle text, students would enjoy comparing and contrasting the author’s purposes and characterization between the two books in the series. This would show students how important it is to build characterization both within a story and across books in a sequel as a plot advances.

Discussion Questions: How do the purpose and direction of this book differ from the first book in the series?; How does Stiefvater develop her characters further from the first book?; In what ways does Ronan struggle to negotiate with his past?; How does Adam cope with his obstacles and circumstances? Do you agree with his approach?

We Flagged: “Sometimes, some rare times, a secret stays undiscovered because it is something too big for the mind to hold. It is too strange, too vast, too terrifying to contemplate” (Prologue).

Please note: The above quotes are from the Advanced Reader Copy. The e-book (a galley) did not provide page numbers. The quotes may change when the book is published.

Read This If You Loved: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, White Cat by Holly Black

Recommended For:

**Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for providing the Advanced Reader Copy for review!**