Review: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low

Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone
by Dene Low
YA, Historical Fiction
208 pages
Published: 2009
4 of 5 stars

About

You would think Petronella’s sixteenth birthday would be cause for celebration. After all, fashionable friends are arriving at her country estate near London, teas are being served, and her coming out party promises to be a resplendent affair. Everything is falling nicely into place, until, suddenly—it isn’t. For Petronella discovers that her guardian, Uncle Augustus T. Percival, has developed a most unVictorian compulsion: He must eat bugs. Worse still, because he is her guardian, Uncle Augustus is to attend her soiree and his current state will most definitely be an embarrassment.
During the festivities, when Petronella would much rather be sharing pleasantries with handsome Lord James Sinclair (swoon), important guests are disappearing, kidnapping notes are appearing, many of the clues are insects, and Uncle Augustus is surreptitiously devouring evidence. It’s more than one sixteen-year-old girl should have to deal with. But, truth be told, there is far more yet to come . . . -from Goodreads

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This book is a good time. It is an amusing satire of high society. It is mildly disgusting, and contains much to stretch (even shatter) your belief. But you want to know something? So what! I enjoyed it. One big reason why was the writing. 

This was one of those books that really uses language - uses words that have meaning and connotations, putting "big" words together into sentences that makes you sigh with relief. Like stretching. The ecstasy of using your mind and working your vocabulary! The beauty of words strung together to sound like music! It's like pulling on my favorite pair of pajama pants, or taking a deep breath when I didn't realize I was in a stuffy room. Enough metaphors? All right. But I need a word for this kind of book because I can think of at least one other I will review soon that falls into this category. Ideas? Please... 

So, this book doesn't take itself seriously, and that is refreshing for a book that takes place in this time period. Petronella really wants to do the right thing (and have some adventure) and doesn't want to hurt her uncle, but she still cares about society.... It is a quandary! Her swooning over James is comical in the sense that I felt it was making fun of all the other well-known swooning. 

Only the four main characters have any depth. Every single authority figure is ridiculous. The phrase "bumbling idiots" comes to mind. This was so blatant that it was obviously done on purpose. It created the dynamic, found in so many other YA books, of the children having to solve the problems on their own. It was interesting to see the dynamic used without having unloving, uninvolved guardians, as is the norm. I had the privilege of listening to Dene Low talk about her book, and she mentioned this book was written as an outlet while working on her dissertation. She was frustrated with academia and authority in general, and suddenly Petronella's world made sense to me. 

So. This book is an uplifting, sniggering kind of good time. Have fun!

Review: Fablenhaven: The Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven: The Rise of the Evening Star
by Brandon Mull
YA Fantasy
456 pages
published: 2007
#2 in the Fablehaven series
For: Fun! (And I also get to post this in my Support Your Local Authors Challenge  by Suey and finally feel qualified to grab the button. :)
5 of 5 stars

 About

At the end of the school year, Kendra and her brother, Seth, find themselves racing back to Fablehaven, a refuge for mythical and magical creatures. Grandpa Sorenson, the caretaker, invites three specialists- a potion master, a magical relics collector, and a mystical creature trapper- to help protect the property from the Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to infiltrate the preserve and steal a hidden artifact of great power. Time is running out. The Evening Star is storming the gates. If the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the world. Will Kendra learn to use her fairy gifts in time? Will Seth stay out of trouble? Can they overcome paralyzing fear? - from Goodreads

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I loved these books. This is my second time reading this, and this time it was out loud to my two oldest kids who begged each night for more of the story. They would literally hang on the edge of the their seats or hover around the book as if they could hear it faster by getting closer. There was also much jumping in excitement, pleasure, and terror.

Let me tell you some of things I love about this series, speaking in generalities as best I can:

• Other than the first book, which started out a bit slow for me (setting up an' all), these books are nearly non-stop action. When there a short lull in the adventure, intrigue and mystery and stuff fill up that space. No slow parts, no skipping, no dragging. Awesome right up to the next awesome. They are perfect read-alouds because nothing is ever boring.
• Fabulous fleshed out secondary characters, and fabulous "creatures" fully equipped with their own ideas and personalities and history and culture.
• Great dialogue, witty and fun. Especially between Kendra and Seth.
• Great sibling relationship portrayal. They are polar opposites and often can't stand each other, and yet love each other too deeply to articulate. They understand each other and barb each other like nobody's business. (See back to dialogue comment.)
• The logical world the inhabit. Yes, you might snicker at my referring to this made up world as logical, but...in terms of internal logic and well-that-makes-sense-ness, these book rock. The explanations of magic and rules and such are short and well...logical. 
• There are consequences to your action in this world! Real consequences. Not just "you're grounded" or "now I need to be rescued," but consequences related to the magical logic mentioned, and trust, and all that good stuff.
• Weaknesses and faults in characters are weaknesses and faults, and sometimes also strengths.
• Great opportunities to discus things with your kids. (Like that consequence thing, and that weakness thing, and that logic thing, and lots more.) We have frequent in depth discussions about what we are reading.
• Character development. These characters experience a lot. They grow and change and learn. But. They don't learn too fast. The don't get "fixed" right away. They take steps just like real people do.

In The Rise of the Evening Star specifically,  some of the things I loved and just couldn't wait to read to the kids where: Hugo and his new self, sneaking into a funeral home that may or may not have zombies, potions, brownies, the dungeon, the cursed grove, Warren, the traitor, the leader, the temple and that dang demon cat, the pod, the glutton...

Oh. my. so. much. that's. awesome.

I highly recommend this book to, well, everyone, but especially those boy readers who want lots of adventure. Sure there is a main character that is a girl, but push them past that. They will like her. And there is also Seth. Just wait till you meet Seth. When you're not fantasizing about slapping him, you're loving on him.

source: home library

Review: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

 Dragons of Autumn Twilight
by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Fantasy
448 pages
published: 1984
6 of 5 stars

About

A motley group of friends meet up at a reunion after years of going their separate ways and find themselves entangled with a pair of none-too-friendly strangers who possess a token from the now-forbidden ancient gods. Rather they like it or not, the strangers find themselves under the protective wing of the friends as they all run for their lives.

The friends fall into their problematic old roles, the strangers bring new insights into the old religion, and soon the gods themselves are involved in the epic journeyings of these friends.

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This is the first 'real' book I read. It was provided by my older brother and according to my parents, wasn't appropriate the the elementary student I was. I loved it. I don't just mean, I loved it. I mean it became part of my identity. It cemented Fantasy into my psyche. I have reread them all more than once. (Though not in the past few years.) Let me try to tell you why this first one is so great.

• A fully described and involving world with it's own history, geography, religion, races, moons and constellations, magic and cultures. I know you can say that about many fantasies, but this is an all-the-way deal. When I say history, I mean thousands of years of history. When I say races, I mean races you've never heard of. And beautiful. This world (Krynn) has awe inspiring beauty.
• Characters that you'll never never forget. Each one is so individual and so well drawn that their names are engraved in my mind.They have their own histories and demons and talents. And they have detailed and real relationships among each other. The group dynamics make this book amazing. Friends. Brothers. Lovers. Mentors. Traitors. Leaders.
• Adventure. Epic world saving adventure. Personal struggle adventure. Conflict. Terror. Mystery. Miracles. And safe havens every once in a while.
• Romance. There is a love triangle and young love and devoted self-sacrificing love.
• There is no swearing, sex (beyond references, perhaps, or that could be a later book), or gratuitous descriptions of evil. There is violence, which can be graphic, in the war/battle sense. But nothing that seemed more than exciting even when I was young.

I feel inadequate to describe my love for this book. These characters have been standing over my shoulder and providing a measure by with to judge all future stories since grade school. I want so much to introduce you to my them, Tanis and Tasslehoff and Flint and Sturm and everyone. I feel like if I turned around fast enough they would be standing there.

I highly recommend giving this one a try.                                                                  

Fablehaven Release Party

The glorious Fablehaven release party happened on March 23rd, nearly a week ago. For the record, it is not entirely my fault I am so late on posting it. There was an issue with involving a dirty rotten rat who stole my USB cable. It is still not located. I had to resort to the well-I-suppose-you-could-use-this-one that my husband found in some secret electronic stash in our bedroom. And...I really do have 5 small to midlin' children. Anyway....

Welcome to Fablehaven 5!!! (Cue really cool music.)

I was not at all sure we could attend this, but my whim took over, the stars aligned (meaning two "babysitters" were found last minute) and we went. We = me, my husband, my baby, my two oldest children, and our teenage helper friend.

We did have to wait in a line, but it moved quickly and was hardly painful. We climbed 3 million steps to sit in the last available seating - the nose bleed section. No problem. We could see the whole stage. The excitement was palpable.

Such a huge crowd! And oh you should have heard the cheering. Brandon Mull is a superstar! And Shannon Hale, who hosted, is not too shabby either! :)

There was a super funny show put on by D.C. Comedy - a movie preview called Sense and Senseless Violence. Pop culture referenced:

1. Harry Potter
2. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson got the biggest roar of applause!)
3. Pride and Prejudice (the love-interest was Edward Darcy)
4. Sense and Sensiblity
5. Twilight
6. Pirates of the Carribean
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (He got stuck in the Quiet Box)
8. The Hunger Games (Katniss thought things should be decided by a fight to the death :)
9. the Matrix
10. Fablehaven (of course)
11. Avatar

Hilarious.

Later it was discovered that Brandon Mull couldn't come out of the magickal knapsack because Shannon Hale (aka Creepy Stalker) had hidden the knapsack in her locker and put a rock on it. She was put in the Quiet Box. Good stuff! The kids ate it up. 

There was a little ballet performance, some dancing satyrs, and an appearance by the illustrator of the Fablehaven series, Brandon Dorman. There were also some announcements from Brandon Mull: yes, this really was the LAST Fablehaven, the sequel to The Candy Shop Wars would be coming soon, and he is writing a new fantasy series about some kids that get transported to a world with no superheroes because the badguys are taking 'em out called the Beyonders.

A Funny Sequence of Events:

1. Early in the show, handfuls upon handfuls of glow sticks were thrown into the audience, but none reached the top of the nosebleeds where we were. 
2. My 8 year old son took this very hard. 
3. Later, when Brandon Mull was asking the powers that be if there were any other questions he was supposed to be answering, my little boy held up his hand and bounced around like Mr. Mull was going to see and call on him. 
4. On the way out a random kid handed 4 glow sticks off to my kids and their evening was made blissfully complete.
5. While walking to the car I remembered to ask what the Boy wanted to ask so badly.
6. "If we could have a glow stick!" he answered.
7. :)))

 Picture of my cute baby (who also waved at strangers and clapped a lot) covering his ears with my hands. It was loud.

Well, if you haven't read this amazing series...what are you waiting for!!! It is awesome. LoveLoveLove it!