The Naming
by Alison Croggon
Candlewick Press, 2005
ISBN-10: 0-7636-2639-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-7636-2639-6

I still remember the night I read The Lord of the Rings for the first time. It was Christmas Eve and I made it to the point where the Nazgul had Our Heroes trapped at the Ford. I snapped the book shut and could read no farther. I was terrified.

I've read a lot of fantasy since that time. There are many fine fantasy novels and series, but I don't find myself reading them as eagerly as I once did. The genre can easily feel tired. Harry Potter was freshly imagined. Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper, Patricia McKillip, each of them discovered worlds to which I can still travel today, they made such an impact.

Young Maerad is a slave in a dirty farmyard. She is frequently beaten and disliked by everyone else there. She feels that she will surely go mad. One night she sees a man who is nearly dead walk into the barn and asks who he is. She shouldn't be able to see him at all. He is a Bard and has ensorceled himself to be invisible. He senses something unusual in this girl and rescues her from slavery, taking her along on a journey that is fraught with danger. And that's only the beginning.

Alison Croggon, an Australian poet, has created a world that ranks with the finest in the field. The pacing is much less intense than Harry Potter and we have a story about a young girl whose talents are undiscovered and must be nurtured, and their are familiar elements of Light fending off the Dark, but the story is written with such depth and attention to detail that it's a pleasure to read. I know this because I spent an entire day reading The Naming when I should have been doing something else. I finished it at 1:00 am and smiled. Not because we weren't at a tense point in the story (there will be three sequels and one of them is already published, thank goodness ... I'll be reading The Riddle tonight) and not because there was anything humorous about the story, but because I rarely find such a satisfying fantasy novel. It's a gem.

—Vicki Palmquist

Trigger
by Susan Vaught
Bloomsbury Children’s Books, September 2006
ISBN-10: 1-58234-920-7
ISBN-13: 978-158234-920-6

After a year of rehabilitation following a suicide attempt, Jersey Hatch is ready to take back his life and start again. What he doesn’t realize is that although he has begun the healing process, his family and friends have not. Through a series of events, Jersey learns that his split second decision has forever changed his life and the lives of those who knew and loved him. While he searches for the truth behind his suicide attempt, his family and friends grapple with difficult questions of their own.

Susan Vaught’s latest book, Trigger, is powerful! Frighteningly powerful. In 300 pages she skillfully guides the reader into the mind of a teenage boy who must reconcile his past life as a popular high school athlete with his current situation, where he can’t control his mind or his body. Steeped in first hand knowledge of the struggles facing head trauma victims, Susan uses her experience as a neuropsychologist to bring Jersey’s story to life. The pain portrayed in this book is real. Teenagers, male and female alike, will find it a fascinating, thought-provoking read. Educators, be prepared for a heady ride. Your students could ask some serious, hard-to-answer questions. This book will open the dialog about a very real problem facing today’s teens—suicide. Read it but be prepared!

—J.M. Bedell

Stay With Me
Garret Freyman-Weyr
Houghton Mifflin, 2006
ISBN 978-0618-60571-2

At 16, Leila Abranel’s world is pretty much routine. She struggles with homework because of her dyslexia, spends time with her friends and accepts her eccentric but loving extended family. Her father has two daughters from a previous marriage, and both of them are at least 20 years older than Leila. She adores free-spirited Rebecca and tries to understand the ambitious Clare. Leila also seeks out the company of her father’s first wife (and mother of Rebecca and Clare) and enjoys the easy friendship that they cherish. When Janie dies of cancer the family is sent on a journey that no one could predict. Without warning, Rebecca commits suicide and Leila feels compelled to learn as much about Rebecca as she can. In her quest to understand Rebecca’s action Leila meets 31-year-old Eamon and the two slowly fall in love. Eamon is a gentleman and allows Leila to mature and grow at her own pace. Freyman-Weyr explores the multitude of complex relationships in Leila’s life with care and compassion. There is not much action in the book, but it is filled with powerful and interesting examinations of why people think and feel the way they do. The writing is understated and lyrical. Older teens that enjoy thoughtful coming of age stories will be drawn into Leila’s complicated life and will not regret one minute of it.

—Wendy Woodfill

Dreamhunter
Book One of the Dreamhunter Duet
Frances Foster Books, 2006
ISBN: 978-0-374-31853-6

New Zealander Elisabeth Knox, best known for her adult novels, has written a thought provoking and compelling fantasy for teens. Set in fictional Southland at the beginning of the 20th century, this tale begins normally enough. Cousins Laura and Rose, both 14 years old, are looking forward to their next birthday when they are eligible for the Try. Within Southland, there is an area called the Place, where only a few people are able to enter. These chosen people are called Dreamhunters because when they are in the Place they catch dreams which are then shared with the rest of the population at immense and elaborate dream palaces. Every 15-year-old is eligible to Try to become a Dreamhunter and both shy hesitant Laura and confident bubbly Rose are sure they will become Dreamhunters because of their ancestry. It was Laura’s father who first discovered the Place and is considered to be the most powerful Dreamhunter. Rose’s mother is a highly respected Dreamhunter and has a large devoted following. But all does not go well: only Laura passes the Try and Rose is destined to be an ordinary citizen. Laura quickly discovers that life as a Dreamhunter is not all that easy. Her father disappears shortly after her Try and Laura finds cryptic notes from him that suggests there is corruption in the regulation of dreams and Dreamhunters. Laura must forge ahead without Rose’s direction and expose the dishonesty of the government and her fellow Dreamhunters. Readers are transported to an era and place that seems authentic and identifiable. Knox’s writing is graceful and elegant and matches the time and place perfectly. Laura and her extended family are likable and realistic. Her relationship with her aunt, uncle and cousin are believably drawn. At the end of the book, the gripping action is just starting and readers will have to wait to early 2007 for Book Two to find out what happens to Laura and her monster (gasp!).

—Wendy Woodfill

Elsewhere
by Gabrielle Zevin
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005
Ages 12 to 17, ISBN 0-374-32091-8

When fifteen-year-old Liz Hall wakes up on board an ocean liner filled with old people, she slowly discovers that this is not a typical pleasure cruise. She has died in a bike accident and is headed to Elsewhere, a place where people age backwards until they are once more babies and ready to return to Earth. Initially Liz is angry at having her life cut short, and mourns the loss of all the things that she never got to do (dating, getting a driver's license), but as she begins to let go of her past, she learns that even death holds plenty of opportunities for living. Told with lots of humor, this is one of the most original and thought-provoking stories I have read in a long time.

—David LaRochelle

Blood Red Horse
by K.M. Grant
Walker Books, 2005
ISBN 0-8027-8960-9

Will, Gavin, Ellie, Kamil, and Hosanna, the blood red horse. Children when the story begins, teens by the time the story concludes in this first of three volumes, these are young people who experience war during the Crusades. K.M. Grant draws these characters deftly, giving us a complete understanding of who they are and why they do what they do. We see from both points of view the reasons that King Richard and Saladin are fighting this Crusade. We know how excited everyone is to be going to war ... and how they come to feel when—and if—they go home again. At the center of the story is Hosanna, an unusual and talented horse who casts a spell over everyone who comes in contact with him. Kings tell him their frustrations and young boys cry when Hosanna is left for dead. Eventually, the two sides will work together to save the horse's life. There are many layers in this book which will delight willing readers. The bloodshed of war is necessary to the telling, the romance is just right for readers of this age, and the story is strong. Highly recommended.

Phoenix Rising
by Karen Hesse
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003
ISBN 0-37436-255-6 hardcoverDoug Wilhelm

How many times I have wished to take action on a serious matter! There are times when my convictions urge me to take a stand and other times when I lack the courage it would take to make my beliefs public. This book portrays a young girl whose beliefs and principles must be shared with people who can facilitate modifications in nuclear power.

The changes after the nuclear accident near her Vermont sheep farm have not only been physical for Nyle Sumner and her neighbors; they must endure the protective clothing and exercise caution in what they eat and drink. Nyle’s emotional challenges escalate when her grandmother takes in two refugees from the accident. She first takes a quiet stand against the nuclear accident as she reads to and encourages Ezra Trent, a teenager with nuclear poisoning. Without realizing it, Nyle helps him to experience life again through her words and kindness. Her courage in befriending this young man lead her to question her relationships with others and confront what she knows is wrong.

Like a phoenix that is reborn from the ashes, so Ezra Trent believes he will be rejuvenated after the nuclear fallout from the Cookshire plant where his father worked. Helping him to experience life again is Nyle, whose life has been anything but fulfilling. With her grandmother as her guardian and the 200 sheep of their flock reliant on her, Nyle makes the best of every situation. After a very bleak event, Nyle realizes that perhaps one person’s words and story can make the difference and seeks to create awareness of a dire circumstance.

—Julie Reimer

The King of Attolia
by Megan Whelan Turner
Greenwillow, February 2006
ISBN 0-0608-3577-X

The writing in this series of three books is breathtaking. Turner has a mastery of prose that is worth studying. This third volume follows the Newbery honor book, The Thief, and the second book in the series, The Queen of Attolia. Each book has followed Eugenides (it was fun to figure out how to say his name), The Thief who serves the Queen of Eddis. In the first, we learn what a Thief does and the strength of Eugenides' character. Filled with humor, pathos, and a deep understanding of the human condition, frequent surprises and subtle puzzles keep the reader tucked comfortably under the blankets while the pages turn.

It's difficult to say a great deal about this third book without giving away the plot in the first two, but Eugenides must grow up in The King of Attolia. With a feeling that he is fulfilling his destiny, he leaves Eddis and resides in Attolia, where his unpopularity is thrown into his face daily. His long-held love is finally realized and he learns to live with the horrific punishment dealt him in The Queen of Attolia. A clash of cultures, mistrust, and the intrigues of a barely-controlled court bring this high fantasy onto the list of the genre's finest. Not to be missed.

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