Guy Friday-- Fantasy Guys (Plus Bonus Rant!)

Nielsen, Jennifer A. The False Prince.
In this first book in a purported trilogy, Sage is taken from an orphanage by the scheming Conner and taken to his luxurious mansion with fellow orphans Roden and Tobias. The reason? The entire royal family of Carthya has been murdered, with the exception of Prince Jaron, who was on a ship that was attacked by pirates when he was about ten, and has never been found. Conner wants to groom a boy to pretend to be the prince, ostensibly to prevent a war between Carthya and a neighboring kingdom. The boys have a variety of skill levels, education, and attitude problems, but Sage is the worst-- he is constantly fighting against Conner, running off, and being a brat about his new found fortune, mainly because all the boys know that whomever is not chosen will surely die. Despite his contrary personality, Sage develops some allies in the maid servant Imogen and the trainer Mott, who both try to help him, and manages to attract the positive attention of the princess Araminda, who is supposed to marry Jaron's brother, and since he is dead, will marry the boy Conner chooses to be prince. When Conner finally does make his choice, long forgotten secrets are revealed that change the entire game.
Strengths: Even though I didn't want to read yet another medieval fantasy, I was oddly drawn into this one. Great cover. The fact that it will be a trilogy and not something longer makes me somewhat inclined to purchase this.
Weaknesses: Sage is really bratty. The reasons for this are clear later in the book (which I don't want to spoil), but I wanted to slap him on multiple occasions, which is never good.

Dolamore, Jaclyn. Between the Sea and Sky.

Esmerine is thrilled to finally become a Siren, an honor that not many in her merfamily have had. Her sister, Dosia, is a Siren, but has recently run away, and the entire family is worried that she has married a human and is not doing well. Esmerine is the only one able to sustain walking on human legs long enough to go looking for her, and she also wants to go on land and try to find her childhood friend, Alander. Alender is a Fandarsee, or winged creature, who runs a book store and agrees to help Esmerine find her sister. The two take off across their Georgian era countryside to try to find her, and fall in love in the process.

Strengths: Hubbard's Ripple is wildly popular, so I picked this up at a Book Look to make my mermaid fans happy.
Weaknesses: No boy will ever pick up this book, even though Alander figures largely. I was disappointed in the lack of living underwater scenes, and somewhat confused by where there were "subtle echoes of Pride and Prejudice". The biggest weakness? See RANT...

Slight Rant:Why are there sooooooooo many fantasy books, when what I really need are funny, realistic fiction books? Wait, wait-- I know. Even though there is a very small percentage of students (especially boys) who read fantasy books, those readers tend to love to read and buy their own books, and tend to be higher acchievers academically, and therefore more likely to grow up and write books. I personally wrote seven chapters of a medievalish/time travel fantasy called Alexander's Avenger before realizing that there were very few readers for it.

Even Nancy Gilson of the Columbus Dispatch had this sentence in her review of The False Prince: "Just in case there's room for another medieval adventure trilogy for young-adult readers, Jennifer A. Nielsen is happy to fill the bill. "

Out of about 720 students at my school, I have maybe 50 who are AVID fantasy readers, and maybe another 50 who will read fantasy if it's new and interesting. About eighty percent of the ARCs I get seem to be fantasy. It seems off balance.

Apparently, few ball players (aside from Tim Green, Mike Lupica, and Rich Wallace) grow up to write books. Hardly any skateboarders do. If I am still buying copies of books by authors who are long dead (Thomas Dygard), something is wrong.

This is also why Jordan Sonnenblick is so brilliant. He writes what students want to read, but is talented enough to sneak in some Life Lessons that teachers will like, in a way that students don't mind them. Oooh! Mr. Sonnenblick! Write a book involving either football or skateboarding next! Just remember, no "we are building a skate park but having trouble with the community thinking we are all threats to society" theme. Overdone.

Just like the vast majority of medievalish fantasies.

Oh, to be in England.

Roy, Jennifer. Cordially Uninvited.

Claire is very excited that she gets to go to her cousin Belle's wedding... and even more excited because her cousin is marrying the future king of England and she gets to be a junior bridesmaid. She's kept the secret for the longest time while the two were dating, but the connection is leaked to the press and the paparazzi arrive at her house, so she and her mother go over earlier. While she is very glad to see her cousin, she is also interested in one of the young boys who is also going to be in the wedding. She is less than thrilled with Pandora, who is also a junior bridesmaid but for some reason thinks that she is fated to marry the prince and who tries to sabotage the wedding! There's a lot of London sight seeing, meeting of royals, and a budding romance for eleven year old Claire.

Strengths: This was very cleverly done. The royals are not really named, and described in vague ways that make them align a little with Prince Elizabeth, etc., but not so much that it will cause the book to be dated. The London descriptions are wonderful, and the rivalry with Pandora fun. The depiction of Belle as a loving cousin and commoner trying very hard to fit in are nice touches. Enjoyed tremendously.

Weaknesses: This would have been much more successful if the girls had been much older. I can't really buy romance books with eleven year olds as main characters. The Pandora story line especially was hard to swallow. Had the girls been about 17, it could still have been a book that middle school students liked (they like reading about older girls, anyway), and would have seemed more plausible to me.
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Churchyard, Kathleen. Bye For Now. (A Wishers Story)

Robin is fed up with her life-- she bonks heads with her younger sister and gives herself a black eye right before a big swim meet, doesn't do well, and then finds out she has head lice, so her birthday party is canceled. Blowing out the candles, she wishing she were someone else, and soon finds herself in England as Fiona Walker. Fiona is gorgeous, has quirky, artsy parents, and is starring in a professional stage production of Peter Pan. Sure, it's hard to figure out what's going on at school, Fiona's sister Jolene is really mean, and she finds herself missing her family. She turns to the computer to solve her problems, communicating with her brother's girlfriend Alia and finding out that she is a Wisher-- and eleven year old girl who has switched bodies. This apparently happens all the time. An India girl named Neera is in Robin's body, and Fiona is in the body of a Japanese gir, Naomi Nagata. Through a Facebook group, all of the Wishers try to coordinate how they can get back home, but once they realize that their twelfth birthday will mean the end of the ability to change, and since Naomi's birthday is very soon, they have to figure out a way to switch back. Will Robin be able to make it in time, or will she have to be Fiona forever?
Strengths: Lots of good details on British language and habits, and an interesting take on wanting to switch lives. Will buy this one to fill the need for books with magical realism, since there is also a little romance.

Weaknesses: Marginal cover, and again, I wish the main character were about 13, in order to make the romance seem more realistic. I personally dislike the use of texting and the reliance on Facebook, since that will date the story, but girls now will like it. I also was slightly confused by the large number of Wishers and found myself doubting that they would really be able to return to the right body!