Furries and Killer Unicorns–What I’m Looking for in YA Fiction

Jacob Reckless is pretty pissed that his father has abandoned him, his mother, and younger brother.  Understandably so, since his mother is sick, and his brother is kind of a wuss and follows him around all the time.  Jacob is sure that he can find a clue in his father’s study that will help him understand—but finding a mirror that leads to another world wasn’t what he expected.

Paperback cover

We aren’t privy to the details of the next several years, but it’s safe to say that Jacob spends more time in the mirror than in his actual reality.  So it should come as no surprise to him when Will follows him through the mirror and into the fairytale world.  We haven’t learned much about either one of the characters at this point, but even so it’s pretty apparent that Will is a drip.   True to character, he gets seriously injured in about ten seconds.  And it’s not a good, normal injury, where you could just use some ace bandages.  Nope, Will has been fatally scratched by a Goyle—a race of men made out of stone.  Now, unless Jacob finds a cure (hint, there isn’t one) his brother will become a Goyle himself, forgetting his former life and living only to kill humans and mine precious rocks.

Meanwhile, the Goyle’s king, Kami’en, instructs his number one soldier, Hentzau, to find Will (obvi he doesn’t call him by his name).  Kami’en’s mistress, the Dark Fairy, dreamed that there was a human turning into a jade Goyle, who would make the king immortal.

Events are further complicated by the arrival of Will’s girlfriend, Clara, who somehow finds her way through the mirror.  Saddled with his useless-turning-to-stone brother, said bro’s gf, and his best friend, Fox (she is literally a fox, except for sometimes when she is a girl.  I picture her as sort of a Furry) Jacob leads a quest to find a cure for Will.  The best part of this book is the assortment of fairytale paraphernalia that creeps up.  In this world, Jacob is a treasure hunter, and he regularly goes on quests to find things like glass slippers or magic keys.  Funke embraces all that is macabre and disturbing about fairytales—the witches that eat children, the trees that will grab you if you get too close, or most terrifying, the Tailor, who’s hands are made of scissors and needles, and who makes his clothes from his victims skin.   The world beyond the mirror, is a magic world where everything can kill you (there are even killer unicorns, which I know my fellow bloggers here at Rampant are particularly fond of).

Hardcover edition: I'm glad they changed the cover--I would have never picked this up.

Jacob is single-minded in his task to reclaim his brother, even after Will turns completely Goyle and starts beating him up, or after Jacob is attacked by snakes or tortured by scorpions.  That kind of devotion is hard to find, especially when you are jonesing after your brother’s girl (I don’t understand why Jacob would choose a nurse over a shape-shifting fox, but then again, the fox might be thirteen, and Jacob might be thirty, the ages are never mentioned and the details in that department are a little too vague for me to decipher).  Regardless, Jacob manages to turn his brother back, and return him and Clara back to the mirror.  Unfortunately, in the next book, he better find a cure for himself, or he’ll die within the year.  Exciting!  Also, we find out that his father taught the Goyle most of what they know about engineering, weaponry, etc.    So I’m guessing that his father is still alive somewhere in this land and Jacob will meet him again.   Funke hasn’t revealed the sequel date or any info yet, so I’ll just have to wait.  And probably read a lot of Boxcar Children in the interim.

You Can Solve Mysteries Without Boxcars (Bet You Didn’t Know That)

Several months ago, when I was at NCTE I had a break and made my rounds of the booths in my normal covert way.  Here’s the deal:  I feel like some publishers frown on giving away galleys to their rivals.  Maybe they don’t understand that I’m just a much a fan of The Mortal Instruments as the next English teacher.  Anyway, I have a complex system that involves stealth, and holding things in front of my badge.  But either way, I always feel guilty picking up galleys.

That’s why I enjoyed Tor Publishing house so much.  Even after I introduced myself and my company, their rep not only talked at length to me about our blog, my favorite books, but also plied me with galleys, and got Bill Willingham to sign me a copy of his new book Down the Mysterly River.

When Bill asked who I wanted to have my book autographed for–I said myself, of course!  I wish I hadn’t packed all my books so you could see the inscription.  Apparently I am very ‘selfish.’

I like to set the stage of my book review by warming you up with pointless, boring anecdotes.  Ready for the real thing?!

Down the Mysterly River begins by introducing us to Max ‘the Wolf,’ a boy scout slash master sleuth.  His mystery of the day is ‘Where Am I and How Did I Get Here?”  Being that he’s a boy scout, and they’re always prepared and such, he isn’t too concerned about how he ended up in a large forest with a talking badger.  Banderbrock (the badger), is pretty certain that he died, and that this is the afterlife, but he’s none too sure, and McTavish the nasty-tempered barn cat and Walden the black bear are iffy on their details as well.  But Max is an experienced detective, and he slowly puts together the pieces of 1) why he’s in an afterlife surrounded by talking animals 2) and why hunters wielding magical blue swords want to destroy him (and his friends).  Their group sets out to reach a wizard’s sanctuary–down the Mysterly River, natuarally–misnamed by McTavish, who is more brawn than brains I’m afraid.  The book isn’t shy about violence, more than you’d expect for most middle grade lit—the Blue Cutters purpose is to remake or ‘cut’ the creatures of this world into ‘better’ or ‘more pleasing’ forms of themselves, and they aren’t above a little torture or murder to do so.  I would like to make a judgement call that it’s no worse than Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter–but I’m also not acquainted with any children, so I’m not certain what’s considered appropriate these days.  I can tell you with certainty that it wouldn’t have bothered me at ten.  Most importantly though, this is definitely a book for people that enjoy talking animals, drawings, and some fantasy elements in their children’s books (and luckily I do).  The story is quick-paced and the main characters are all lovable and vaguely familiar (you’ll see why at the end, don’t make me spoil it for you).  Overall, a very enjoyable read–and if I knew any children, I would definitely recommend it to them.

Gypsies, Tramps, & Thieves

I quite like this cover. And you can see her face!

In Touch of Frost (Kensington 2011), Gwen Frost is not having a good year.  First her mother is killed in a horrible car accident and then she’s shipped off to a fancy boarding school that turns out to be a training ground for the descendants of ancient, mythical warriors to learn how to fight the evil forces that plot to free Loki, the Norse god of chaos, and unleash hell on earth.  Although, who’s high school wasn’t like that.  But Gwen Is Different.  You can tell, because unlike the rich Valkyrie and Amazon bitches at her new school, she likes comic books and wears graphic tees and hoodies.  (Hey Rhymenocerous, does this make her alternative?) She’s also the only Gypsy of the bunch.  And in this mythology, a Gypsy (Gypsies!) is someone who has been gifted magic by the gods, not the ethnic group that cursed Angelus with that pesky soul or the famed burlesque stripper.  Gwen’s special power is psychometry, the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it.  I actually had a French teacher in high school who claimed to have this ability.  He took my ring and said that he saw the letter “S.”  Gee, that’s specific.  Y’all will be shocked to find out that I did not learn a whole lot of French in that class.  I did get an A though, so yay for the American public educational system.

ANYWAY. Gwen is flying under the radar, using her ability to find people’s stuff for a little extra cash, when she’s attacked while an important magical artifact is stolen (Thieves!) and the mean Queen Bee is murdered.  Upset that nobody seems to care that a girl was murdered right on campus (the girl’s best friend and boyfriend are even already hooking up which gives us the Tramps! in order to complete our post title trifecta), Gwen resolves to find out what happened to Jasmine, the aforementioned Queen Bee and enlists (well blackmails is probably the more appropriate term) the help of Daphne, Mean Girl and closet computer nerd.  She also attracts the attention of bad-boy Logan, a Spartan who has the ability to pick up anything and turn it into a deadly weapon.  Even like a twizzler.  And along the way, Gwen discovers that not only is she different, but she might just have a destiny.

I picked up this book because I’m a fan of author Jennifer Estep’s Bigtime superhero series.  Estep can sometimes be a bit clunky with the emotional lives of her characters, but I think she has a real knack for building the interesting alternative realities that her characters inhabit.  She peppers these worlds with a lot of little details that make them seem real.  Now this is the first book in a YA fantasy series so there is a LOT of exposition, but the plot moves along at a fairly brisk pace and there’s some good action and twists along the way.  It’s kind of impossible not to compare the book to Rick Riordan’s superior middle-grade Percy Jackson series (and we’ll get to those books later), but the mythology subject is a relatively fresh angle in the YA market,  particularly for those of us who are sick of vampires and dystopias already.

For the most part, I enjoyed Gwen as a character, although sometimes Estep pushes the geeky outsider thing a little too much.  She’s feisty and direct and I liked how, for the most part, she wasn’t all angsty about her psychic power.  Though her gift has consequences, she likes knowing peoples secrets and uses it for monetary gain.  I think I’d probably be the same way.  However, the thing that annoyed me the most about the character is Gwen’s refusal to believe that the mythological gods are real.  I know the disbeliever is a trope, but I’m sorry, YOU HAVE A MAGICAL POWER!  You know your mother and grandmother also have magical powers!  Every single person at that freaking school has some kind of supernatural ability!  You accept all this, no problem.  But the idea that the gods were real and myths are actually history?  Why that’s just crazy talk. Ugh.

I don’t think Touch of Frost is an instant classic, but it’s a good choice if you’re looking for a fast and fun read.  And I’ll definitely be checking out the sequel when it comes out.  Cause did I mention that there’s a talking sword named Vic?  Yeah, and he’s awesome.