Active Voice

By Sarah L. Thomson [LibraryThing - Amazon]

Mella’s got the rare talent of being a Keeper, someone who can communicate with and care for dragons. She tends the herd of farm dragons who produce eggs for her father’s inn, a tough job for a 12-year-old girl. But then everything changes—a knight and his squire, Roger, come to the inn in search of old dragons, the kind who fly and breathe fire, claiming they’re about to return to the country and need to be stopped before they become a threat. But Mella finds the dragon first, and as it dies she swears a solemn promise to take its egg to the dragon hatching grounds. Now, with Roger’s help, she’s got to carry out her promise—and unravel the mystery of what drove off the dragons in the first place…

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By Carol Hughes [Librarything - Amazon]

When Joe follows the strange girl called Katherine who’s been sent to fetch him, he finds himself in a land torn apart by war, where the people live in fear of secret police and horrifying machines capable of immense destruction. With Katherine and a blind guide named Spider, Joe must make his way across the perilous no man’s land to the capital city in order to find his little sister, Hannah – for this is the land where sick children go, and Hannah is deathly ill. But as Joe finds himself awash in this land’s secret history and deceptive politics, two questions arise: Just who is behind this war, anyway? And is Hannah the one who needs saving – or is Joe?

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By Jodi Lynn Anderson [Librarything - Amazon]

Having finally come to terms with the fact that a great destiny awaits her somewhere in North Farm, the part of the Ever After (sort of a realm of the dead) that even most spirits avoid, May and her companions set out northwards hoping to find a way home. Unfortunately, the Bogeyman is still after them, and he’s got a few merciless minions sniffing around.

Worse yet, when May finally reaches the Lady of North Farm, she finds out that the only portal that can take her and her brave companion, Somber Kitty, home is located under the Bogey’s own bed. How can they possibly sneak in under his nose and get home without getting caught?

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By Anne Ursu [Book One: Librarything - Amazon / Book Two: Libarything - Amazon]

When Charlotte’s cousin Zee comes over from England to live with Charlotte for a semester, she hopes the novelty will inject a little excitement into her relentlessly boring life. Unfortunately, Zee may have brought a little too much excitement with him, for a few days after his arrival, Charlotte’s classmates begin to fall prey to a mysterious illness – the same illness that caused Zee’s parents to send him to America. But this is not just any old plague. Philonecron - half-god, half-demon, and Assistant Manager of the Department of Sanitation for the Greek Underworld – is stealing kids’ shadows, and he plans to use Zee to lead his new shadow army to overthrow Hades. Can Charlotte save her cousin and stop Philonecron before every dead person who has ever and will ever be is doomed to an eternity of torment?

Even though they’ve just saved the Underworld, Charlotte and Zee have been feeling pretty helpless. After all, the Dead are still drifting in eternal ennui, and Philonecron is out there somewhere, undoubtedly plotting revenge. And when Poseidon’s grandson is plotting revenge against you, the last place you want to be is out at sea on a cruise ship. But, of course, that’s just where Charlotte finds herself. Now she’s got to save Zee again, plus a cruise ship full of people, and go head to head with Poseidon himself. At least she’s got the cute new boy Jason Hart on her side…or does she?

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By Patrick Carman [Librarything - Amazon]

Like the other denizens of Tabletop, Atheron’s middle level, eleven-year-old Edgar can’t read. So when he comes across a secret book that was left to him years ago, he has no choice but to climb the almost-sheer cliffs separating Tabletop from the ruling level, the Highlands, in search of someone to read his book to him. There he befriends a quiet, bookish boy named Samuel, who reads in the book the hidden truth behind Atherton’s recent earthquakes – the Highlands are collapsing into Tabletop. As the people of Tabletop discover the treachery of those in power and prepare to make war on the Highlands, Edgar embarks on a desperate journey to the desolate Flatlands, Atherton’s lowest level, where he may find the answer to the mysteries of Atherton’s very existence – and, possibly, its destruction.

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By James Patterson [Book One: Librarything - Amazon / Book Two: Librarything - Amazon]

Her name is Maximum Ride. She’s 98% human, 2% bird. And the girl can fly.

Max and her flock—that is, the other five mutant kids with wings—are on the run. They escaped from the despicable School where they were created, kept prisoner, and experimented on, but their only human ally, a former whitecoat scientist named Jeb, has gone missing…or gone back to the badguys. No matter where they go, the Erasers (bloodthirsty human-wolf hybrids who obey only the whitecoats) are after them, trying to kill them…or worse, bring them back to the School.

For the last few years, they’ve been safe. But when the Erasers show up from nowhere and kidnap Angel, the youngest member of the flock, Max has to do what she’s always feared and go back to the School. The only upside? They hope that somewhere at the School is information about why they were created, and who their parents are…if they even have parents. In the second book, the search for information on their origins continues, but this time a Voice in Max’s head complicates matters by insisting that she’s wasting time which would be better spent, you know, saving the world.

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By Jodi Lynn Anderson [Librarything - Amazon]

May Bird and the Ever After is the story of socially awkward ten-year-old May Ellen Bird and her hairless cat, Somber Kitty. It’s just been May, her mother, and Somber Kitty for her whole life, and May just doesn’t fit in at school, no matter how hard she tries. Really, the only place she does fit in is the woods of Briery Swamp…Until she falls into a strange, hidden lake, and when she climbs out, she can see ghosts all over.

Strange things start to happen, culminating with May and Kitty falling through the lake into the bizarre Ever After, a land of ghosts, spirits, specters, goblins, ghouls, demons, and other assorted creepy evil types. The Ever After is a dangerous place, especially for cats and Live Ones, and despite having received a desperate plea for help, all May wants to do is get out—before the Bogeyman or Evil Bo Cleevil catch her and turn her into nothing.
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Whither Rebecca leads, thither I follow. Here are some older reviews of mine of Kids/YA Genre Fiction:

The Circle of Magic #1: Sandry’s Book (The Magic in the Weaving), #2: Tris’s Book (The Power of the Storm), and #3: Daja’s Book (The Fire in the Forging), by Tamora Pierce. Three cupcakes for Sandry’s Book, four cupcakes for the other two. (Genre: High Fantasy)

Secrets of Dripping Fang #1: The Onts, by Dan Greenburg. Three and a half cupcakes. (Genre: Contemporary/Urban Fantasy)

Dealing With Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede. Four and a half cupcakes. (Genre: High Fantasy, Fairy Tale/Mythic)

Sorcery and Cecilia, or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Four and a half cupcakes. (Genre: Historical Fantasy/Steampunk)

The Keys to the Kingdom #5: Lady Friday, by Garth Nix. Three cupcakes, although the series as a whole gets a tentative five (which may be reevaluated when the last two come out). (Genre: Portal Fantasy)

Not a review, but what’s with the torn edges on the pages of books lately?

Before we get started, here, some older reviews I’ve done, relevant to this site:

The City of Ember and The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau. Five cupcakes, and a friggin’ cherry on top. (Genre: Apocalyptic/Dystopian Science Fiction)

Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld. Four and a half cupcakes for Uglies, three and a half for the other two. (Genre: Apocalyptic/Dystopian Science Fiction)

Bruce Coville novels, including the My Teacher series, The A.I. Gang, The Dragonslayers, The Nina Tanleven Ghost Series, and The Magic Shop series. I’d say the average rating is about four cupcakes. (Genres: Aliens Among Us, Other, High Fantasy, Contemporary/Urban Fantasy, and Fairy Tale/Mythic)

Pendragon, books one and two, by D.J. MacHale. Two cupcakes. (Genre: Portal Fantasy.)

Meta talk about writing and books:

Fantasy Females (Of the Literary Variety), about the roles female characters play in fantasy.

Seriously, What is Wrong With Cinderella?, about Disney princesses, ideas about how to keep female characters dynamic, and a little bit of repeated review of Pendragon.