Bone volume 2: The Great Cow Race by Jeff Smith

Synopsis: The Bone brothers were reunited at the end of volume one, and at the beginning of this one, they are about to hit the road back to Boneville. However, Phoney Bone gets into trouble again by trying to scam the villagers in the Great Cow Race. Mixed up in all of this, of course, are the rat creatures, who are still looking for Phoney Bone. A few more mysteries are revealed about Rose and her granddaughter, Thorn, which make one suspect that there is more to Thorn than is immediately evident.

Rating: Pure genius. I nominate Jeff Smith for a Nobel.

Opinion: Jeff Smith is a genius of comedic timing; of mystery to keep the interest; and of – not to mention – the pure beauty and charm of the illustrations. When Fone Bone climbs the tree to get a honey comb for Thorn and discovers the giant bee guarding the bee hive, I laughed out loud (it doesn’t sound funny when I describe it, but trust me, it is!). The two rat creatures that keep arguing about quiches are back and just as hilarious. I adore this series so much that I think I may have to buy it.

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Synopsis: Princess Addie is timid and depends on her older sister, Meryl, to take care of her. Princess Meryl is brave, bold, and ready to slay dragons when she is old enough. But when the Gray Death infects Meryl, Addie must muster her courage to go out to find a cure in their scary world that contains dragons, ogres, gryphons, and other fantastical creatures.

Rating: Pretty good, but not as good as Levine’s other books.

Opinion: I wasn’t wowed by this book. The characters were nice, and the action moved along pretty well, but I enjoyed Fairest much, much more. This review is short because I really don’t have much to say about it.

The Princetta by Anne-Laure Bondoux

Synopsis: Malva is the Princetta of Galnicia, a vaguely European country in an imaginary land. She is about to marry to cement an alliance for her country, when she escapes with her maid to live the life she wants to live. She, however, has been tricked into escaping so that her tutor can take over the country, and Malva lands into much more trouble than she bargained for.

Orpheus is the son of a renowned ship’s captain and has always longed to go to sea, but a childhood disease prevents him (or so his father wants him to think). On his father’s death, he discovers that it was not true due to the double life his father lived as a legitimate captain and seafaring pirate. When the Princetta goes missing, Orpheus volunteers to be one of the party. Thus begins an epic story that goes from the ends of the earth and back.

Rating: Good, but a bit long.

Opinion: The book is divided into three parts, and the first part had me glued to the pages. The second part took a turn I didn’t expect and it took me a bit to get back into the story. Towards the end, the book gets kind of fanciful and, frankly, a bit weird. The story line rambles a bit here and there, but I wonder if it’s not due to the translation, or due to cultural differences (it being originally written in French). I do know that the editors did miss at least one mistake: “They exchanged baffled glances and then began searching the fog, which was thinking [sic] here and there.” (page 290) It seemed to me that the plot line got very complex, but without depth. This opinion is kind of rambly simply because I’m not sure how to explain the book, because it is so rambly. Go read it and see if you agree.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Synopsis: This book takes place in the fantasy world of Levine’s earlier book, Ella Enchanted. Aza is an orphan taken in by innkeepers, who raise and love her like a daughter. Her voice is the most beautiful in the land, so her parents say. Her face and figure, however, aren’t so pretty to look at. In fact, many inn visitors refuse to be served by her because of her ugliness, and so mostly Aza keeps to tasks that take her away from the guests’ sights. Her life changes when a duchess, who is the guest of the inn and has taken a liking to Aza, invites her to the royal wedding. The new queen, Ivi, is drawn to Aza, and eventually makes Aza her lady-in-waiting because Aza can iluse – that is, Aza can project her voice to sing for the queen, whose voice is mediocre. Ivi forces Aza to do this against her will, and when the court discovers the duplicity, Aza is thrown in the dungeon. She manages to escape to the caves of the gnomes, where she lives in exile almost until the end of the book.

Rating: Superbly brilliant

Opinion: As is obvious from the cover, this is based on the Snow White fairy tale. However, it is not just a retelling of the tale – it is a reworking of it that weaves the original elements of the tale into her original story so subtly that it is as if Snow White were being written for the first time. The pace of the storytelling is just right – it never drags or moves too quickly. The characters are exquisitely drawn, with surprising depth in Ivi. Prince Ijori is not quite as full of depth as Ivi and Aza, but he doesn’t seem to lack for it because the story is so focused on the two female characters. Much of the story focuses on Aza’s lack of beauty and her own comfort in her skin, which is interesting because most fairy tale characters are beautiful, or at least pretty. This book is definitely worth picking up – I loved it to the last page, and in fact stayed up to finish reading it because I couldn’t put it down. I think I might have to go buy my own copy. And all her other books, too.

Bone volume 1: Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith

Synopsis: The Bone brothers, Fone, Phoney, and Smiley, have been kicked out of Boneville for one of Phoney’s hairbrained schemes. They get lost in the desert, separated, and all end up in a strange valley inhabited with other animals, scary rat creatures, and a red dragon (in whom nobody believes). Fone is the main character, and most of the story follows him trying to find his two cousins with the help of a tiny green bug named Ted, a girl named Thorn and her cow-racing Gran’ma Ben.

Rating: Brilliant!

Opinion: Not only are the pictures beautifully drawn, the story is humorous, engaging, and endearing. The characters each have well-rounded personalities, and you care about what happens to them, even Phoney Bone (whose only endearing characteristic is the fact that Fone Bone cares about him). There’s a lot of humor to it, too – I laughed out loud during the scene where they are running through a cloud of locusts (“Whatever you do – don’t stick out your tongue! Pitt! Poo! Yuck!”). What really keeps the story going, though, are the little mysteries – why did the Bone cousins get thrown out of Boneville? Why does the red dragon keep rescuing Fone Bone from the rat creatures, and why does no one in the valley believe that the dragon exists? What are the rat creatures, anyway? Not all of these questions are answered in this volume, which is why I can’t wait to read volume 2. This book is brilliant. Go directly to the library, do not pass go, etc. Or the bookstore if your library doesn’t have it.

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, and not only because the author has such an interesting name. It also has an interesting title. It is true. The premise of the book is that underneath platform 13 at King’s Cross station in London there is a gump. A gump, you say? What the heck is that? Well, a gump is a passage way to Avalon where is there is an Island with a king and queen and all sorts of mythical characters. Well, one day the son of the king and queen is kidnapped by a greedy and awful person named Mrs. Trottle. Since the gump is only open every 9 years for only 9 days, the king and queen have to wait 9 years to get their son back. Most of the action of the book takes places over that 9 day segment when the rescue team that is sent in tries to get the prince back. Despite the passing similarity to the Harry Potter books with the platform 9 3/4 bit, and the fact that they are both fantasy, The Secret of Platform 13 is quite different in the story. It is, of course, very well written (do I ever seem to read anything that isn’t?) and another one I didn’t want to put down.

Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley

I have been meaning to get around to this review, since I finished the book weeks ago, but real life in the form of wedding plans and house-buying plans has intervened. Anyway, this book is an interpretation of the Cinderella story. It is told from the point of view of mostly the Cinderella character (Bella). It is very well written – the kind of book I was picking up every spare moment to read a little more. In this retelling, Bella is sent away when her mother dies to be raised by nursemaid, and grows up believing she is a peasant. She befriends the prince, who was nursed by Bella’s foster mother, who (of course) turns up later in the book for the Prince Charming character. There are some twists that liven up the familiar story, especially in the gender role area. Bella is a strong, smart female character who is a joy to read. Even the stepsisters and mother are given voices in the book, which make the reader empathize more with their situation. Excellent book. Now I can return it to the library so I stop getting overdue notices.