The Lost Kingdom by Matthew Kirby - ESSENTIAL

Kirby, Matthew J. The Lost Kingdom, 352 p. Scholastic, 2013.  $18.  Content:  PG (violent, but not bloody death by dangerous monster).  

Billy is proud to be finally considered old enough to accompany his father on one of his trips into the wilds of a new America.  This time is even better, because they are voyaging on a super secret flying ship and headed off to find a myth – the Land of Madoc – the descendants of an Irish prince who came long before the first English settlers.  The colonists need help to defend themselves from the French, who have joined forces with many Indian tribes in order to claim the new land for themselves.  But discoverers can be eccentric and this new technology can be dangerous – and a traitor finds his (or her) way into the group.  The chances of anyone from the team making it back to any of colonies seem very slim.  

This different take on the colonization of America and the French-Indian war (see a glimpse of a very young George Washington in his first Command).  I was almost left breathless by the never-ending action and the danger.  Only one thing bothered me.  There is a mystery on board when a message from the traitor has been discovered.  I really would have thought that hand-writing analysis would have been a simple way to solve it, but it never even comes up.  It made me call the intelligence of the men into question.  Otherwise, if you can ignore that, will you thoroughly enjoy this.  

EL, MS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

A Spark Unseen by Sharon Cameron - ESSENTIAL

Cameron, Sharon A Spark Unseen, 352 p. Scholastic, OCTOBER 2013.  $18.  Content: G (danger at times, but never gross).  

An agent of the British government is determined to force Uncle Tully to create weapons for the war against France.  Katharine is equally determined to protect him.  So she gets help from everyone to fake Tully’s death and sets off for an older family home in the heart of Paris.  There she is sure that she can also find Lane, even though those same British authorities have told her he is dead.  Instead of peace however, Katharine lands everyone right into the middle of danger, intrigue, deception and death.  

There are no pauses here to catch your breath.  This non-stop action is as thrilling as any boy book around.  The plotting, the gadgets, the new friends and new enemies make for a wild ride.  You have to feel sorry for Katharine, because she is in way over her head, but it make for a riveting read.  

MS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

The Girl with the Iron Touch by Kady Cross - ADVISABLE

Cross, Kady The Girl with the Iron Touch, 384 p. Harlequin, 2013.  Violence: PG-13, Mature Content: PG (clothes off, no details), Language: G.  

Emily has been kidnapped by the mechanical minions of Garibaldi.  Yes, Garibaldi survived, but only barely.  The automatons insist Emily place their master’s brain in a part-mech body prepared for him, but Emily has sympathy for 312, the girl who has been created.  Meanwhile, Finley Jane and the rest of Emily’s friends are desperate to find and rescue her.  They will risk everything to do so.  

Kady Cross is the perfect steampunk writer.  I love her books the best of all I have read.  This is an excellent introduction into the genre for girls.  

MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore by Kate Maddison - OPTIONAL

Maddison, Kate The Incredible Charlotte Sycamore, 282 p. Holiday House, 2013.  $18.  Violence: PG. 

Something sinister is stalking the streets of London.  When Charlotte, the daughter of Queen Victoria’s personal physician,  is out on a jaunt with her palace friends, they run straight into trouble and now she and her two friends have contracted rabies – a deadly disease in that time period.  But their attackers were not human – they were mechanical dogs, purposefully coated with the disease.  Charlotte can’t get anyone to believe as she tries to explain about the dogs and it is up to her to save her friends, herself and possibly all of England.  

Steampunk is catching on only very slowly in YA lit, partially because historical fiction is not very popular.  This is a decent addition, but will need to be hand sold to readers.  

MS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher.

The Dark Unwinding by Shannon Cameron -

Cameron, Shannon The Dark Unwinding, 336 pgs. Scholastic, 2012.  Language- G; Mature Content- G; Violence- PG.

When a rumor that her uncle is squandering away the family fortune surfaces, Katharine Tulman is sent to his remote English Victorian estate to have him committed to an asylum. But instead of a lunatic, Katharine discovers a genius inventor with his own set of childlike rules.    

I couldn't put this book down. It was very well written and a complete page turner. Right when you think you know who the villain is this book adds another twist to make you think again.   

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Student Reviewer: CH

Legacy of the Clockwork Key by Kristin Bailey - ADVISABLE

Bailey, Kristin Legacy of the Clockwork Key, 416 p. Simon and Schuster, MARCH 2013.  $18.  Language: PG (9 swears, 0 ‘f’); Other Content: G.  

Meg is an orphan and lives a very hard life at the mansion of an obsessed millionaire, who only desires everything to remain exactly the way it was the day his beloved wife died.  Meg’s only legacy from her parents is her grandfather’s watch and a keen mind.  When she makes friends with Will, the stable boy in order to get the watch repaired, she is thrown out for fraternization – and she and Will must embark upon an elaborate journey to unravel a series of puzzles to stop a crazy man and prevent murder.  Ok – it sounds a little lame when I write the summary, but really, for girls who like gothic romance, a little steampunk and a lot of danger, this is a good call.  It looks like there is already a sequel planned, but I was happy with how this one ended.  

MS, HS – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher

The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress - ADVISABLE

Kress, Adrienne The Friday Society, 448 p. Penguin, DECEMBER 2012.  $17.  Language: PG-13 (42 swears), Violence: PG (fighting, little blood); Mature Content: G (implied adult drug use).  

Cora, Michiko and Nellie – three girls in Edwardian London who need each other, but haven’t met yet.  Cora works as the assistant for a brilliant inventor, but feels betrayed when he hires a wealthy young man also.  Nellie is a magician’s assistant, who comes from the mean streets and becomes worried when someone starts murdering young flower sellers.  Michiko is a samurai, who has been denied her sword; in a fit of pique, she took a job with a showy swords man who undervalues her skills.  When all three girls are part of the discovery of a murdered man, they begin to realize that they need each other and they can help each other.  However, there may be more than one enemy.  

Three strong steampunk heroines emerge in Kress’s novel.  She has created something for girls that more mature women have already discovered.  I think this will greatly help the steampunk movement along.  I can’t wait to read more about these girls.  

MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent -- ADVISABLE

Trent, Tiffany The Unnaturalists, 305 p. Simon, 2012.  $17.  Language: G (2 swears); Violence: PG (dead bodies); Mautre Content: G.  

In the great city of London, they hold magical creatures, such as the Sphinx, in suspended animation inside museums for their amusement.  Outside the city, the Tinkers rescue the magical children(babies) of London, who have been left to die outside the gates because magic is considered heretical.  When Vespa, the daughter of a museum director,  discovers her own magic powers, she is dragged into both sides of the fight between the two sides – by the spoiled daughter of a rich Londener who will use Vespa to steal what Vespa wants most for herself, and by the Tinkers – who know that Vespa is the last defense the whole world has before magic disappears forever.  

Any girl who sees this cover is going to want to become a little steampunk themselves.  And they will not be disappointed by what is inside.  

MS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund - ADVISABLE

Peterfreund, Diana For Darkness Shows the Stars, 416 p. Balzer + Bray (Harper), 2012.  Content: G.  

Genetic experimentation has ruined the world.  All Elliot North has ever known is that since then, her people, the Luddites, have ruled the world, to control the Reduced and keep it safe from further genetic experimentation.  But Elliot’s family estate is dying – her father and her sister do nothing to improve their property.  And things have been especially bad since Elliot’s friend Kai left – without her.  Now foreigners have come to the estate, renting part of it to build a new type of ship, one that may help the island connect with the rest of the world.  But Kai has returned with them and Elliot is torn between her strict upbringing, her love for the estate and her love for Kai.  

Honestly, I have never read Persuasion, and if it hadn’t been mentioned on the cover, I would have never cared.  And students will not care; they will just enjoy watching the forces in Elliot’s universe as they separate, intermingle and collide.  

MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher.

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron - ADVISABLE

Cameron, Sharon The Dark Unwinding, 336 p. Scholastic Press, 2012.  $18.  Content: G.  

Katharine has been sent to her family’s home estate to spy for her aunt Alice, who wants control over all of the family’s money for her son, the heir.  Uncle Tully, Alice says, is crazy and must be put into an asylum before he wastes everything.  But when Katharine arrives, she finds a very different place.  Her uncle may be child-like, but he is also brilliant and deeply caring.  Now Katharine is torn – not between her family members, but also between two men, both of whom who are harboring dark secrets.  

Ms. Cameron takes a complicated scene and deftly controls the action so that no one gets lost along the way.  Its a little steampunk, but mostly gothic in its dark mystery.  

MS, HS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

Dead Reckoning by Lackey and Edghill - ADVISABLE

Lackey, Mercedes and Edghill, Rosemary Dead Reckoning, 324 pgs. Bloomsbury, 2012. Language - PG (12 swears, 0 "f"), Sexual Content - G; Violence - PG; 

Jett's mission: find her brother Phillip. Gibbons' mission: discover the real reason for mysterious disappearances out West. White Fox's mission: find out what happened to another soldier's mother. None of them expected to be brought together by such an unexpected discovery: Zombies. 

I'm not a big fan of zombies or steampunk, but Dead Reckoning brought the two together nicely. The different personalities of the ragtag team made for an exciting story even when there wasn't much going on action-wise. I hope Lackey and Edghill are working on a sequel because readers will be looking for more. 

MS, HS - ADVISABLE. Reviewer: CCH