Inquisitor's Apprentice review

The Inquisitor's Apprentice
by Chris Moriarty
Harcourt Children's Books
October 2011

13 year-old Sacha Kessler is a nice Jewish boy growing up in a Jewish slum of Lower East Side New York in the 1800's. Old World magic clashes with American technology and is "technically" outlawed, although most housewives are all too happy to turn a blind eye to the occasional spell that might make their household chores a little easier. Sacha has a super-rare ability to see magic (it is invisible to most) and as such, gains a high-prestige job with the Inquisitors, New York's anti-magic squad run by brilliant, laconic detective Maximilian Wolf.

This is clearly a parallel world to our own, with the wealthy Astor family renamed "Astral", "Morgaunt" instead of J.P. Morgan, "Pentacle Shirtwaist Factory," instead of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and so on. I loved the "lie detector test" - conducted by bored clerical assistants who perfunctorily use their magic ability to determine the truthfulness of statements from petty criminals in downtown lock-up. The whole world seems well thought out, with robber barons hoping to stamp magic out for their own gain. Sacha's large, poor, but loving family who live crammed in a tiny tenement apartment seem especially well fleshed out. The book felt like Sydney Taylor's All-of-a-Kind-Family meets Sam Spade with a dash of magic thrown in.

Plenty of real historical figures including Thomas Edison and Houdini make important cameos in this book. Sacha is embarrassed by his family's low means, and is caught in a web of lies - it takes pushy fellow apprentice Lily Astral and Wolf's patience to finally bring Sacha out of his shell. What he hasn't been able to admit to them is that he is being stalked by a dybbuk - a malevolent spirit who appears as his doppelganger and hopes to slowly rob his life from him.

Readers who enjoy historical fantasy, especially books like Patricia Wrede's Frontier Magic series will enjoy this fast-paced, magical detective story. There are enough loose ends to leave plenty of room for a sequel, or even a series.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Little White Duck feltboard

Here's my latest feltboard, it's all the pieces I need for Little White Duck.

For the first time ever, I cheated, and taped the words to the song to the back of my feltboard. I'm kind of glad I did, because I always forget exactly how this one goes.

There's a little white duck, sitting in the water
A little white duck, doing what he oughter
He took a bite of a lily pad
Flapped his wings and he said "I'm glad
I'm a little white duck sitting in the water
Quack, Quack, Quack."

There's a little green frog swimming in the water
A little green frog, doing what he oughter
He jumped right off of the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said "I'm glad
I'm a little green frog swimming in the water
Glug, Glug, Glug."

There's a little black bug floating on the water
A little black bug doing what he oughter
He tickled the frog on the lily pad
That the little duck bit and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little black bug floating in the water
Bzz, Bzzz, Bzzz."

There's a little red snake playing in the water
A little red snake doing what he oughter
He frightened the duck and the frog so bad
He ate the bug and he said, "I'm glad
I'm a little red snake playing in the water
Hiss, Hisss, Hisss."

Now there's nobody left sitting in the water
Nobody left doing what they oughter
There's nothing left but the lily pad
The duck and the frog ran away, I'm sad
"Cause there's nobody left sitting in the water,
Boo! Hoo, Hoo...

Alice in Wonderland review

Alice in Wonderland 
adapted by Martin Powell, illustrated by Daniel Perez
Stone Arch Books
August 2009


I enjoyed this fast read-through of Alice in Wonderland. Translated into graphic novel form, the undeniably trippy, dream-like nature of the original book comes through much, much stronger in this version. Alice races through one utterly bizarre scene after another, lending a particularly surreal feeling to this reinterpretation of the classic. As fast as she falls down the rabbit hole, grows and shrinks and meets the evil Red Queen and Chesire Cat, there are other equally odd occurrences taken from the original novel that I had forgotten about, such as the abandoned baby that inexplicably turns into a pig. While the adaptation remains very true to the original, the speeded-up narrative and largely visual presentation definitely up the ante, turning what is already a very strange and dream-like book into something altogether hallucinogenic.

The book is appended with some background information on the inspiration for several of the characters - for example, cheese-makers of Chesire County, England apparently were famous for using cat-shaped molds, and of course, the tradition of Mad Hatters comes from the true story of many  Victorian-era hatters who suffered from lead poisoning and dementia in their line of work.

I hesitate to recommend such an abbreviated version of the classic to young readers who may not return to the longer, original work if they feel that they've read it already, but at this point, Alice in Wonderland is such a cultural touchstone, you can't go wrong with this easily-accessible version.


I borrowed this book from the library.

Books poster

This is so true, isn't it?

Wonderstruck review

Wonderstruck
by Brian Selznick
Scholastic
September 2011

Selznick returns to the style that he pioneered in The Invention of Hugo Cabret in this sweeping tale that spans two generations, alternating between the late 1920's and 1970's. Rose's story, in 1927 is told through pictures. Ben's story, set in 1977 is told (mostly) in words. Selznick draws together several disparate elements here - things you wouldn't normally think about in one sitting: the beginnings of modern cinema, Deaf culture, spending overnight in the American Museum of Natural History, wolf conservation. It's a lot to shoehorn into one book and it feels like an interesting peek inside Selznick's brain to see how he carefully hinges all these things together.

This book will probably be compared (unfairly) with The Invention of Hugo Cabret, if only because there is absolutely nothing else quite like it. The appealing black and white sketches and easy flow of the text make this a lightning fast read, despite being a heavy doorstop of a book. A few of the coincidences in the book seemed a little too much to be believed, but the way everything works like clockwork makes for a very satisfying piece of fiction. Ultimately, everything is revealed to the reader as decades-long family secrets finally come out and Rose (now an old woman) and Ben are finally united.

This would make an interesting choice for a middle-school book club, with plenty of issues to discuss.


I borrowed this book from the library.

Waiting on Shatter Me

This sounds so intriguing. I'm not a huge X-Men fan (not as big as some) but the storyline makes me think a little of Rogue from the X-Men. Should be very interesting!

Shatter Me
by Tahereh Mafi

HarperCollins

November 2011

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Anna and the French Kiss review

Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Dutton
December 2010

I put off reading this book for so long because I was a little bit afraid that it couldn't possibly live up to the hype. But it does! It really does! This is a completely swoonworthy book. I knew the main character, Anna, a senior in high school is from Atlanta, and I had imagined that more of the book would take place in the South. That's not the case - her parents ship her off right away to a boarding school in Paris. I was prepared to immediately hate Anna for being a whiny brat about having such an awesome opportunity. That was the problem that I saw with Falling in Love with English Boys, by Melissa Jensen about a girl who has to spend a summer in London. Gee, wouldn't you love to have these girls "problems?" Happily, Anna did not seem too bratty to me. Her father is basically clueless - a less functional version of the real-life Nicholas Sparks, the famous author of badly-written, bestselling melodramatic romances.

When Anna gets to Paris, she's not on vacation - so she doesn't spend a lot of time jetting around, seeing the sights. Mostly, she's trying to get settled in her new dorm, meet friends, and figure out enough French to handle the basics, like ordering food in the cafeteria. She meets Etienne St. Clair, a total dreamboat, but of course, he has a girlfriend, and half the school is crushing on him anyway, so she knows she doesn't stand a chance. They do end up becoming good friends though, and spend the year getting to know each other, developing various in-jokes and so on. I was about ¾ of the way through the book, and Anna hasn't even kissed anyone yet. I was beginning to get worried - maybe the titular kiss would be on the last page? Fortunately, St. Clair soon realizes that his relationship with his former girlfriend just isn't working out, and Anna 'fesses up and admits her sort-of boyfriend back home isn't in the picture either. After they become a couple, Anna helps St. Clair confront his father who has been cruelly keeping him away from his cancer-ridden mother. It sounds more melodramatic than it plays out, and while I don't think high school romances often work out, I could totally picture Anna and St. Clair moving to Berkeley together, getting married and living happily ever after. I hate to say that this is a "When Harry Met Sally" story, since I think that reference will be lost on a lot of younger people, but it is a really good comparison. They're really sweet together, completely right for each other and have a really solid foundation because they were platonic friends for so long before the rest of their relationship developed.


I purchased this book.