THE INQUISITOR'S APPRENTICE

THE INQUISITOR'S APPRENTICE, by Pat Moriarty  ill. by Mark Edward Geyer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2011)(ages 10+).  In New York City, in the first decade of the Twentieth Century, magic is illegal, although almost everyone practices it.  When it's discovered that thirteen-year-old Sacha Kessler -- the son of Russian Jewish immigrants -- can see witches, he's apprenticed to the famous Inquistor Wolf, whose job it is to stop magical crime.  Their first case is to prevent the murder to Thomas Edison, but the main suspect is a rabbi, and the truth might just come a little too close to home for Sacha...

THE INQUISITOR'S APPRENTICE offers an atmospheric and believable alternate history, a fascinating and occasionally humorous melting-pot world of magic and ethnicities, and an engaging protagonist.  First in a series.

CHAINED

CHAINED, by Lynne Kelly (FSG, May 8, 2012)(ages 8+).  In this debut novel by Houstonian Lynne Kelly, ten-year-old Hastin takes a job with a circus owner in order to pay off his sister's hospital bill.  His job -- to care for the baby elephant Nandita -- is made more difficult by the cruel elephant trainer and the circus owner.  He contemplates running away with her, but where can a ten-year-old boy go to hide out with an elephant?

CHAINED offers a thought-provoking look at elephants and how how captive elephants are sometimes treated, as well as a compelling protagonist and poignant coming-of-age story.   

Big News: LITTLE GREEN MEN AT THE MERCURY INN

I am thrilled to announce that Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan) will be publishing my novel, LITTLE GREEN MEN AT THE MERCURY INN.  Release is tentatively scheduled for Fall 2013.

It's a comedic middle grade story about what happens to three friends at a motel in Cocoa Beach, Florida, after a manned space launch at Kennedy Space Center is scrubbed due to the appearance of an unidentified flying object over Cape Canaveral.

Thanks to my agent Ginger Knowlton and my new editor Deirdre Langeland (FYI, Deirdre is also editor at the Flashpoint imprint, where she edits some awesome nonfiction)! 

Photos courtesy of NASA 

WE'VE GOT A JOB: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March

WE'VE GOT A JOB: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March, by Cynthia Levinson (Peachtree 2012)(10+).  In early May of 1963, thousands of Birmingham schoolchildren took part in a massive campaign to violate the city's segregation laws and thereby flood the city's jails. Over the course of some ten days, more than 4,000 children were arrested, andor had fire hoses and police dogs set upon them.  This is the story of four of them.

In WE'VE GOT A JOB, Levinson provides a perspective on the civil rights movement as a whole, as well as focusing on what it meant to four very different individuals.  With exceptional research including personal interviews with many of the parties involved, Levinson brings to life an inspiring moment of history of children empowered and determined to take on the system.

Tohoku Earthquake books: TOMO and MELTDOWN

One year ago tomorrow, one of the five largest earthquakes ever recorded struck Japan.  Almost sixteen thousand were killed and thousands more were injured or missing.  More than one hundred thousand buildings were destroyed.

TOMO, ed. by Holly Thompson (Stone Bridge Press, March 10, 2012)(12+) is a young adult collection of stories by authors from around the world, all of whom have some connection to Japan.  Per the flap copy, the book offers "[t]ales of friendship, mystery, love, ghosts, magic, sci-fi and history [that] will take readers to Japan past and present and to Japanese communities abroad."  A portion of the proceeds will go to long-term relief efforts for teens in Tohoku.

Edited and with a Foreword by Holly Thompson, TOMO contributing authors and artists include Andrew Fukuda (Crossing), Liza Dalby (The Tale of Murasaki), Tak Toyoshima (Secret Asian Man syndicated comic), Alan Gratz (The Brooklyn Nine), Wendy Nelson Tokunaga (Love in Translation), Deni Y. Béchard (Vandal Love), Debbie Ridpath Ohi (illustrator of I’m Bored), Graham Salisbury (Under the Blood-Red Sun), Naoko Awa (The Fox’s Window and Other Stories), Suzanne Kamata (The Beautiful One Has Come) and Shogo Oketani (J-Boys), among others.

MELTDOWN: THE NUCLEAR DISASTER IN JAPAN AND OUR ENERGY FUTURE, by Fred Bortz (Lerner 2012)(ages 10+).  Physicist Bortz offers an account of the earthquake, its effects on the  nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and efforts at remediation.  Additional sections discuss the context of nuclear power and its place in the production of electricity.

CROW

CROW, by Barbara Wright (Random House 2012)(ages 8-12).  It's Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898, and Moses Thomas has just finished fifth grade with perfect attendance.  His father works at the daily African American newspaper and is one of four African American aldermen on the city council.

His grandmother and mother were born into slavery.  But Moses's father knows that so long as Moses has an education and self-respect, he can grow up to make something of himself.

Although Moses has fun that summer (he gets to take his first train ride and starts to teach Boo Nanny how to read), there are ominous signs -- he has issues with his friends and tensions between the white and African American communities begin to rise...

CROW is a fascinating and poignant story of one boy's summer in the time leading up to the Wilmington Massacre of 1898.  Thought-provoking, but not preachy, CROW pulls no punches as it remains true to the era yet always maintains the perspective of an eleven-year-old.  Altogether, it's a compelling read with an engaging and likeable protagonist.       

VODNIK

VODNIK, by Bryce Moore (Tu Books/Lee & Low, March 2012)(12+).   When Tomas was six, his parents brought him to the United States after he was nearly drowned and burned to death -- and he has the scars on his arm and lungs to prove it.   Now sixteen, after their house in the States burned down, Tomas and his family are back in Trencin, Slovakia, and he has a job at the very castle at which he nearly died.

Then he starts seeing things -- fire elementals, water creatures, and the Grim Reaper -- and starts to think that the legendary vodnik may actually be after him and his soul...

VODNIK offers a thrilling and suspenseful update on Slovak legends of the vodnici.  Tomas is engaging and the setting atmospheric, without being cliched, blending the ancient and the contemporary in a fascinating and sometimes funny read.    

I AM TAMA, LUCKY CAT: A JAPANESE LEGEND

In fact, I am Mercury.  [yawn].

I am, however, here to tell you about a book by that name (see cover below).

Long ago, in Japan [Did I mention that my Greg person's ancestors originated in Japan?] or so the story goes, there lived a poor but devout holy man who was barely keeping his temple together.  Tama appeared, raising his paw in the traditional Japanese come-to-me greeting.  [Some cats are known to do this.  I do not].

The cat adopted the holy man and stayed at the temple.  One day, during a thunderstorm, Tama greeted a rich samurai feudal lord who was taking refuge under a tree outside the temple grounds.  [I make no comment on whether it was a good idea for Tama to have been outdoors during a thunderstorm.]

The samurai approached the cat an instant before the tree was struck by lightning. [See?] In gratitude, the samurai lord bestowed lavish gifts, became a friend to the monk, and restored the temple to prosperity. 

[Is it true?  I don't know, but you can buy Maneki Neko figurines just about anywhere these days.]  In any case, I AM TAMA is a lovely story, freshly told, with very nice lush illustrations. 
   

I AM TAMA, LUCKY CAT: A JAPANESE LEGEND, by Wendy Henrichs, ill. by Yoshiko Jaeggi (Peachtree 2011)(ages 5-9).

ZAHRA'S PARADISE

ZAHRA'S PARADISE, by Amir, ill. by Khalil (First Second Books/Roaring Brook Press 2011)(14+).  This powerful graphic novel tells the story of the search for Mehdi, a nineteen year old caught up in the aftermath of Iran's Green Revolution of 2009.  Last seen at the Freedom Square, his mother and his brother, a blogger, now search for him, trying to negotiate their way through the cruelty and fecklessness of the state bureaucracy... 

In addition to being a fine story, well-told and richly drawn, ZAHRA'S PARADISE does an excellent job of cutting through the headlines, bringing characters to life, and illuminating Iran's recent history.

THE DRAGON'S TOOTH

THE DRAGON'S TOOTH (Ashtown Burials, Book 1), by N.D. Wilson (Random House 2011)(ages 10+).  Twelve year old Cyrus and his sister Antigone have been living with their older brother Dan in a decrepit motel in Wisconsin for the past two years, their father dead and their mother in a coma.

Then a strange old man shows up and gives Cyrus a mysterious artifact and set of keys, the place is burned to the ground, and Daniel goes missing.  To get him back, Cyrus and his sister are drawn into the machinations of the mysterious Order of Brendan, jailers of semi-immortal villains and caretakers of powerful mystical objects...

THE DRAGON'S TOOTH offers a well-constructed and gripping fantasy with high stakes and adventure.  Cyrus and Antigone are likeable and believable as siblings and as they come together to face a world in which legend has become reality.

MOONSHADOW: RISE OF THE NINJA

MOONSHADOW: RISE OF THE NINJA, by Simon Higgins (Little Brown 2010)(10+).  In this historical fantasy based on medieval Japan, the orphan Moonshadow has been raised as a ninja warrior spy by the members of the Grey Light Order to serve the shogun and preserve the peace against fractious warlords.

In addition to being a master of stealth and swordsmanship, Moonshadow possesses the "eye of the beast," the ability to see through the eyes of animals.  Now, on his first mission, he must put all his skills to the test as he goes in alone to the the castle of a rebel warlord who wants to overthrow the shogunate...

MOONSHADOW: RISE OF THE NINJA is a thoroughly fun, action-packed yarn.  Altogether, an engaging story of friendship, honor, and belonging.

First in a series, originally published in Australia as MOONSHADOW: EYE OF THE BEAST.

TANTALIZE: KIEREN'S STORY releases today!

Congratulations to my wife, Cynthia Leitich Smith, on the release today of her first graphic novel (illustrated by Ming Doyle), TANTALIZE: KIEREN'S STORY!  Go check out an interview with Cyn and Ming here, and a brief article called Going Graphic at Hunger Mountain on turning TANTALIZE into a graphic novel!   

10th Anniversary: RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME

Congratulations to my wife, Cynthia Leitich Smith, on the Tenth Anniversary of the publication of her first novel, RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME.  Go over to Cynsations to check out some reflections on the occasion!

TANTALIZE: KIEREN'S STORY [updated]

TANTALIZE; KIEREN'S STORY, by Cynthia Leitich Smith, ill. by Ming Doyle (Candlewick Aug. 2011)(ages 14+).  The graphic novel version of TANTALIZE presents the story from half-werewolf Kieren's point of view.  Under suspicion for murdering Chef Vaggio, Kieren must clear his name and stop Quincie from falling into the clutches of the evil Bradley Sanguini...

New scenes provide additional insight into Kieren's doings and his efforts to uncover the truth.  Ming Doyle's drawings are elegant and expressive.  A must-read for all fans of gothic fantasy.

Note:  A graphic novel version of ETERNAL, also illustrated by Ming Doyle, is forthcoming.

Update:  Cynthia Leitich Smith will be appearing with Barry Lyga on the MORE THAN ONE WAY TO READ: GRAPHIC NOVELS panel at the Texas Book Festival on Saturday, October 22, from 11:30-12:30 in Capitol Extension E2.010.

THE GRAND PLAN TO FIX EVERYTHING

THE GRAND PLAN TO FIX EVERYTHING, by Uma Krishnaswami (Atheneum 2011)(ages 8-12)(illustrations by Abigail Halpin).  Eleven-year-old Dini and her best friend Maggie, both of Takoma Park, Maryland, are tremendous fans of Bollywood movies and, particularly, of the greatest movie star of all time: Dolly Singh.

When Dini's parents announce that they're moving to Swapnagiri, India, for two whole years, Dini and Maggie are devastated.  The only good thing the two friends can see is that maybe, just maybe, Dini will get a chance to meet the great Dolly Singh herself.

So when her family finally arrives in the remote mountain town, Dini sets her plan into motion...

THE GRAND PLAN TO FIX EVERYTHING offers a vibrant voice and a funny, almost cinematic glimpse into Dini's quest.  With larger than life characters and a dose of kismet, in THE GRAND PLAN, Dini encounters monkeys, strangers, representatives of the India Post, and maybe, even, a movie star.

In short, THE GRAND PLAN TO FIX EVERYTHING is a whimsically engaging tale of friendship and family.  And chocolate curry puffs which, of course, can fix anything.        

BLESSED

BLESSED, by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick, 2011)(14+). Picking up where TANTALIZE and ETERNAL left off, neophyte vampire Quincie P. Morris is still struggling to keep Sanguini's afloat. At the same time, she has to deal with the rise of hundreds of new vampires, courtesy of the restaurant's former chef. Plus, she has to clear Kieren of suspicion for Vaggio's murder. The addition of a new chef and the exotic Zachary only add to the problems...

Deliciously creepy and horrific, but not without romance and humor, BLESSED artfully explores themes of salvation and forgiveness and good and evil. Having overcome her transition to the vampiric life, Quincie is steadfast and determined. And Zachary is, well, Zachary. :-).

Check out the amazing Official Trailer:

WORDS IN THE DUST

WORDS IN THE DUST, by Trent Reedy (Scholastic 2011)(ages 10+). Thirteen year-old Zulaikha lives in an Afghanistan recently liberated from the Taliban. But her concerns are more immediate than the politics of Kabul: getting along with her stepmother; dealing with her siblings; preparing for her sister's upcoming wedding; ignoring the taunts and almost always-horrified reactions to her appearance; and surreptitiously learning to read and write the poetry that so inspired her mother.

Then the Americans come to town, offering protection, opportunities, and a new life. And surgery to fix Zulaikha's cleft palate...

In WORDS IN THE DUST, Trent Reedy offers a human face to what is, for many, a far-off war. Reedy compellingly captures the rhythms of a small Afghan town and the dreams and personalities of its residents. Zulaikha is utterly believable as she reaches toward the future that is now available to her. Ultimately, WORDS IN THE DUST delivers as a finely-wrought novel of love, hope, and decency.

ESCAPING THE TIGER

ESCAPING THE TIGER, by Laura Manivong (HarperCollins 2010)(10+). It's 1982 and twelve year-old Vonlai and his family have escaped from communist Laos across the Mekong into neighboring Thailand.

There, they are held at the squalid Na Pho refugee camp, where they must struggle if they are ever to survive to the brighter future they are hoping for. But when his sister is threatened, Vonlai takes matters into his own hands...

ESCAPING THE TIGER offers an engaging protagonist in a poignant and thought-provoking story of family and dignity. Vonlai's hopes and fears ring true as he deals with family, friends, and foes alike, and as he comes of age in the refugee camp. Flashbacks to their lives in communist Laos provide additional texture and contrast.

THE AGENCY: THE BODY AT THE TOWER

THE BODY AT THE TOWER (THE AGENCY, BOOK 2), by Y.S. Lee (Candlewick 2010). Mary Quinn is back in this sequel to THE AGENCY: A SPY IN THE HOUSE. This time, she's disguised as a 12 year-old errand boy at the Palace of Westminster construction site to uncover the truth behind the fall of a bricklayer from atop St. Stephen's Tower. Along the way, she discovers plots within plots and finds herself having to negotiate who and what she is and wants to be...

THE AGENCY: THE BODY IN THE TOWER is another finely-wrought historical mystery, bringing to life the seamier side of a richly-imagined Victorian London. Readers will eagerly anticipate Book 3.

TRUTH WITH A CAPITAL T

TRUTH WITH A CAPITAL T, by Bethany Hegedus (Delacorte 2010)(ages 8-12). Eleven year-old Maebelle T. is excited to be spending the summer with her musician grandparents in their newly-inherited antebellum mansion. But it turns out her newly-adopted cousin Isaac from Chicago, the trumpet prodigy, is going to be spending the summer there, too.

Worse, Maebelle has been dropped from the Gifted and Talented program at her school. Can she find her talent in time for the town's anniversary celebration and return to Atlanta at summer's end? And what's with the deal with the mansion's locked wing?

TRUTH WITH A CAPITAL T is an enjoyable, honest, and thought-provoking story of friendship, history, and family secrets. Told with humor and full of Southern charm and wit, TRUTH WITH THE CAPITAL T will have readers wanting to march right down to Tweedle, Gerogia in time for the festivities.