The Places You Will Go

No Waiting Required

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

DON'T you love it when you "discover" a series that has already been written and published? If you love the first book, the second, third and so on are ready to be  read. No waiting until the author completes the next instalment, and then for the paperback edition to be released (I'm cheap that way - I only buy hardbacks if they're remaindered or hugely discounted).

There have been times when a publisher or distributor gives me a review copy of the first book in a series but the other books, when they're published, are not sent for review and I've been (once again) too cheap to buy them. Or, I forget to look out for the sequels. That happened with Hilari Bell's Shield, Sword, and Crown trilogy. I enjoyed Shield of Stars (2007), but missed the release of Sword of Waters (2008). Crown of Earth (2009) was released this October.

Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games was so good that waiting for the sequel, Catching Fire, was sheer agony. And now that it's been published and I've read it, I have to wait until sometime next year (so I've heard) to read the final book in the trilogy. Woe is me!

Recently, my friend, Kit (the best book merchandiser in the universe) introduced me to Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series. Three books are available (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia) and a fourth (A Conspiracy of Kings) is due out in 2010. The books are mainly about the intrigues of royal courts of three neighbouring countries - Sounis, Eddis, and Attolia.

In the The Thief, a thief called Gen is taken from his jail cell by the magus of the King of Sounis. The magus wants Gen (who boasts that he can steal anything) to help find Hamiathes’s Gift, a stone of legend, said to be the gift of a goddess. According to tradition, he who owns the stone has the right to rule over Eddis. The magus wishes to use the stone to force the present Queen of Eddis into a political marriage with Sounis.

Picture Book of the Month: The Blacker the Berry

October 2009

The Blacker the Berry
Author: Joyce Carol Thomas
Illustrator: Floyd Cooper
Publisher: Amistad, 32 pages
Year: 2008
ISBN: 978-0060253752
Malaysians, taught, from the cradle, to value a fair complexion, may be surprised to encounter a celebration of dark skin. Different shades of African-American skin are lusciously and sensuously described by Joyce Carol Thomas, and then rendered just as sumptuously by Floyd Cooper's illustrations, making it abundantly clear that bitter chocolate is as beautiful as vanilla. The Blacker the Berry won the 2009 Coretta Scott King Book Award. This book was part of What a Wonderful World: A Multicultural Journey Through Text and Pictures, held at Kinokuniya Bookstore Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur from 1st-31st October, 2009.

The Promise of Earthsea

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

MORE than 10 years ago I tried to read Ursula K. Le Guin's The Wizard of Earthsea and failed miserably. This happens sometimes. You find a book unremarkable, hard to read even, at 23 only to declare it the best thing since sliced bread when you re-read it at 50.

The Wizard of Earthsea and the other books in The Earthsea Quartet (The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore and Tehanu) kept me up way past my bedtime two weeks ago. Like the best fantasy novels they explore the great mysteries of the universe - life and death, good and evil, and time. Running through the books is also the theme of self-discovery, the search of identity and the meaning of self, mainly through the life and exploits of the quartet's central figure, Sparrowhawk.

Land of Myths and Legends

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

I’VE just read a fabulous adventure fantasy called Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano (Publisher: Arthur A. Levine, ISBN: 978-0545005425). It’s the first book, in a series of 10, about Balsa, professional bodyguard who was trained in combat from childhood.

Balsa was compelled to leave her home in the land of Kanbal at the age of six. Her father, Karuna Ronsa, was the king’s personal physician and the king’s brother, Rogsam, threatened to kill Balsa unless Karuna agreed to poison the king. Knowing that he and his daughter would be put to death anyway, Karuna begged his friend, martial arts master Jirguro, to take Balsa far away and out of danger. Jiguro eventually trained Balsa to fight so that she would be able to defend herself if anything happened to him.

Wise and Wonderful

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

JUNIPER, Wise Child and Colman. To look at the covers of the Random House editions of Monica Furlong's books is to love them immediately and deeply. They are the work of Leo and Dianne Dillon, the husband-and-wife team also responsible for the covers of the Eos editions of Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy, as well as many other popular and critically-acclaimed books including the Caldecott Medal winners Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears (1976) and Ashanti To Zulu: African Traditions (1977).

When I read Nix's and Furlong's books it was easy to accept the Dillons' depiction of the books' main characters. It's evident that these illustrators pay close attention to the authors' descriptions of the characters' physical features, as well as their clothes. What's interesting is although the style doesn't change, and every character has a superficially similar look, each one is still distinct, as though the Dillons have managed to capture not just the outer shell of facial features, but also the inner spirit of each one. If only the the books were fully illustrated.

Anyway, I thought that I would highlight Furlong's series this week - because it's so wonderful and comforting, and not at all well-known. Furlong wrote and published them in this order: Wise Child, Juniper and Colman. Here's a little about the books in reading order:

Le Guin's "Powers" Wins

Ursula Le Guin has won her sixth Nebula Award for her young adult novel Powers, the third in her Annals of the Western Shore saga.

The Nebula shortlist included Terry Pratchett for Making Money, Cory Doctorow for Little Brother and Ian McDonald for Brasyl.

More here.

Laureates' Choice

The Laureates' Table is the title of a new promotion by British bookseller Waterstone. It marks the 10th anniversary of the Children's Laureateship and features selections (seven each) made by children's laureates Quentin Blake, Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Rosen.

(Harry Potter doesn't make the list, but I'm not at LL surprised :-) )

Read more here.

The Hugo Nominations

The Hugo Awards celebrate the best in the field of science fiction and fantasy.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is nominated in the best novel category (good to see that children's novels share this category).

And Shaun Tan is nominated in the best professional artist category.

More here.

Do or Die

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

HOW brutal and blood-thirsty the ancient Romans were, gathering to watch people kill and be killed in terrible ways, even hunted and eaten by wild beasts. How unfeeling the public in Elizabethan England were, attending public executions and watching, with morbid fascination, as men and women were hung, drawn and quartered or burnt at the stake.

Could we stomach such violence and cruelty? Don’t we anyway when we watch some action and horror movies? Does it make a difference knowing that what we see isn’t “real”?

I think it depends on the viewer. I can’t watch a torture scene in a film because although I know the actor isn’t really suffering, I can imagine what it might be like to undergo the torture. I can imagine his pain. And what’s worse is I know that people are tortured in real life.

We get our fill of fictional violence, blood and gore on the telly and in the cinema, and in video games too. If we didn’t, would we welcome the opportunity to witness live executions and combat? After all, most of us enjoy the thrill of watching reality programmes: Seeing someone suck up half a kilogramme of real raw brain is so much more entertaining than knowing it’s in fact pureed banana with a dash of strawberry sauce, isn’t it?

The Hunger Games (Scholastic Press, 464 pages, ISBN: 978-1407109084) by Suzanne Collins capitalises on the popularity of reality TV and violent shoot-’em-up video games. It’s a comment on the voyeur in all of us, and how the media feeds on this and manipulates us for its own gain. It also asks how far humans would act and how much they would accept in the name of entertainment and monetary gain.

Janet Saves the Day

I’VE been fascinated by the story of Tam Lin ever since I heard English folk band Fairport Convention’s rendition of the old Scottish ballad.

Tam Lin is a knight who becomes the Queen of Elfland’s lover for seven years. The queen has to pay a tithe to hell every seven years and plans to sacrifice Tam at the end his time with her. Fortunately for him, he meets Janet.

Janet is the heir of an old estate named Carter Hall. Maidens are warned to avoid the hall’s grounds as a strange young man lurks there, claiming the virginity of any young women he happens upon. Janet, being more headstrong than the average medieval teenager, rushes off to Carter Hall and meets Tam. He is obviously a very comely young man as he manages to get to third base with Janet on their very first date....

Of course, this is just what it sounds like in the ballad. It’s very likely that many details have been left out and Tam and Janet actually go steady for some time before their hormones get the better of them.