Danika Dinsmore

Storyteller

YA literature

Middle Grade Mondays: The Enchanted Inkpot

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Since I’m away this week, I thought I would leave you with a fabulous author site to explore. THE ENCHANTED INKPOT is a collective of writers of “high, historical, traditional and cross-genre fantasy intended for middle-grade and young adult readers.”

On their website they have a list of the authors, their bios, and tons of interviews. I think I’m going to use this site as a reading list. Why not? It’s a great resource.

MG Authors on the site include: Ellen Booraem (The Unnameables, Small Persons with Wings), Kate Coombs (Runaway Dragon, the Secret Keeper), Jennifer Nielson (Underworld Chronicles), Jacqueline West (The Books of Elsewhere), Hilari Bell . . . it goes on. It’s a good sized list. You’ll just have to go check it out.

There’s a list of ALL the books from the Inkpot authors on GOODREADS.

If you are a writer of MG/YA fantasy and would like to join the Inkpot collective, their requirement is that you must be with a publisher listed in CWIM or an agent listed in CWIM, AgentQuery, or other recognized agency listing. SEE HERE for more details.

Middle Grade Monday – Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld

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REMINDER that tonight at MIDNIGHT PST is the deadline
for the 2nd Round of the 50 First Lines Challenge

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I wasn’t going to post another MGM until after I got back from Bologna, but I just finished Scott Westerfeld’s very satisfying Leviathan series and wanted to say something about it.

First of all, I’ve generally heard of middle grade literature for those ages 8 or 9 to 12 years old and YA being for those over 14. So what happened to the 13-year-olds and what are we doing for them?

The answer: LEVIATHAN!

According to Amazon, this series is for 7th grade readers and older, so it does just squeak into the top edge of MGM literature. But more importantly, it hits squarely in the “tween” demographic, which is sometimes hard to please.

As I’ve said before, I’m on a mission to find good literature for this age. Material that does not condescend to its readers, but also strays from graphic violence and romantic love triangles as main plot points.

This steampunk series takes place in an alternate history where the secrets of DNA were discovered much earlier, the result being that scientists can create new animals, some invented for the purpose of warfare. It takes place during an alternate WWI, where it’s the Darwinists vs. the Clankers (biological vs. mechanical).

After his parents are murdered, the prince to the Austrian throne (Clankers) runs away and ends up aboard a Darwinist airship. He befriends a brave young midshipman, who is secretly a girl in disguise as a boy. Told in alternating POV’s, the girl cannot reveal her true self, even to her new BF, else she would be kicked out of the British Royal Service. Since flying is her life, she won’t chance it … even when she starts having feelings for the prince.

I don’t think 12 and 13 year old boys are much interested in the dilemmas of romance yet, but 12 and 13 year old girls might be, so this series is completely satisfying for BOTH demographics. In addition, the “romance” is more about friendship, trust, and loyalty – not the “oh-my-god-his-eyes-are-so-dreamy-I-think-he’s-my-soulmate” variety.

As a matter of fact, there’s a lot in here about friendship, loyalty, and trust as well as sacrifice. I think there are great lessons inside this action-packed story. And yes, there’s a lot of action (it is WWI after all), but not graphic violence.

Westerfeld’s Darwinist and Clanker inventions are extremely imaginative. He has his own vocabulary, too, so never uses profanity (“barking” this and that for the “f-ing”). It’s also really fun that Westerfeld puts in the back of his book which parts of his story are historically accurate and which aren’t. That would make for great classroom discussion.

I really liked the journey of the trilogy and the ending. Everything I needed to get tied up did, but it wasn’t in a pretty little package. There was a bit of ambiguity, which I really like. War is messy and unpredictable, so I believe it’s appropriate to the story.

It’s been a little while since a trilogy left me feeling so satisfied. Yay!

Middle Grade (and YA) Mondays: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

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I’ve been reading more YA than MG books these days, partially because I simply enjoy them, partially because I’m working on a YA sci fi, and partially because I’m always on the lookout for books that will work for advanced middle graders who tell me they aren’t interested in love triangles or sparkly vampires.

I mentioned several books in an earlier post as being a great books for advanced middle grade readers and got many more suggestions in the comments, so thanks to everyone for that. For those interested in a softer speculative fiction story that isn’t overly graphic or violent, I want to talk about The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, which, to me, has great potential to spark some interesting discussion.

from GoodReads:

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn’t remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers? Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity.

I enjoy a good dystopian tale, but sometimes I get a little exhausted from the violence that pervades YA dystopians these days. I enjoyed Jenna Fox in the same way I enjoyed Gattaca, an under-rated film that takes place in a near-future where people’s genetic make-up is accessible and their lives are pre-determined by society’s prejudices of the genetically “inferior.” Both are slower, thought-provoking stories, more focused on theme than fast-paced plot.

Adoration slowly unravels the mystery of “what” Jenna has become since her accident. It is an extremely internal story. An extraordinary percentage of the book is made up of Jenna’s thoughts. But I enjoyed waking up from her coma with her, trying to figure out the world around her. Simple things that we don’t think about – the dual meanings and subtleties of words that she has to relearn. Facial expressions that she has to identify to understand if someone is happy, sad, or lying.

I thought the writing was strong, in many places poetic. The characters were 3-dimensional. People are not all good or bad. Good people can make bad decisions. And second guess those decisions. Do the wrong things for the right reason. And even then, there’s grey area between right and wrong.

The book looks at what it means to be human. If we could easily replace parts of humans, how much could we replace before the person is no longer human? What part of us makes us human? These are the ideas that the book addresses as well as what lengths one would go to as a parent to save their child.