A Horse for X.Y.Z.

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Mrs.N

by Louise Moeri

Solveig (pronounced Sol-vay, with a long o) Nilsson wishes her life were a little more interesting.  She wishes she were the imaginary Xenia Y. Zilch with an exciting life and a name at the end of the alphabet instead of stuck in the anonymous middle.  A strong desire to ride a special horse and prove she’s somebody leads to an adventure worthy of her far more exciting alter ego.

When Solveig is taken far from camp when Snake Dancer sets off at top speed, she thinks she’s in danger of getting in trouble, but the real trouble hasn’t even started yet.  Soon Solveig finds herself trying to evade a group of dangerous horse thieves.  With a little luck and ingenuity, Solveig manages to make it through the ordeal safely.

I would have adored this book as a child.  A quick thinking female lead, a clever horse, just the right level of excitement and danger without being frightening, it would have sent me turning the pages at a breakneck pace.  This will definitely appeal to the horse wild (as well as serve as a cautionary tale against rash action)!

The only drawbacks are a few bits that tell the age of the book, specifically,  a nasty bit where Solveig wonders why she, who has no problems bites her nails, while some of her classmates have gorgeous nails.  The problems of the other girls are an alcoholic mother (agreed, definitely a problem) and two complete sets of parents – plain and step (not necessarily a problem and not all that unusual in this day and age).  A pay phone is available for guests who are “financially embarrassed” and need to call home.  I’m not even sure what “financially embarrassed” is supposed to mean!  I’m assuming it means poor, but I don’t like the way the term implies poverty is something that should cause shame.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “for Pete’s sake,” “Oh, Lord,” “oh jeez,” “cripes,”
Death, Violence and Gore – a girl jokes about a pickle juice bomb.  Someone slips a dead mouse into the headmistress’s purse. A girl contemplates lying and saying she was kidnapped by a man who held a gun to her head.  A girl wonders if a horse will kick, bite or trample her, breaking all her bones.  A man hits another man in the face.  A man fires a gun. Solveig wonders how long it would take a person to starve to death.  Solveig muses that going into camp with dangerous men around is how people end up on slabs in the mortuary.  She thinks she might end up being the youngest person to die of a heart attack.  Solveig kicks a horse, it seems that she’s doing this as some type of punishment, at it makes me far more uncomfortable than any of Solveig’s outlandish fears of dying.  She worries she and the horse will be a pile of bleached bones.  There are gunshots from two separate guns.  She’s worried that she’ll be killed by the horse thieves and that it will be assumed that she’s drowned.  She blacks out after a bad fall.  A teacher had “something like a heart attack.”
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – One girl has an alcoholic mother.  A teacher once drank too much punch at a party.
Frightening or Intense Things – A horse bolts with a girl on his back.  Horse thieves seek a stolen horse.

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Happy Go Lucky

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Mrs.N

Happy Go Lucky by Kristin Earhart

This is the first book in the Big Apple Barn series and friends, I shall be honest with you. It was not chosen on merit, it was chosen purely because it is short, I own it and it is about a horse. I’ve got some stuff coming up that will be limiting my reading and blogging time, so I figured any book would do in a pinch? Yeah, I’m not even sold.

Immediately, I am foiled.  Happy is a pony! He’s not a horse!  For the uninitiated, ponies and horses seem interchangeable, but they’re actually different animals. Whether your little horse lover will also enjoy pony books is beyond me, but I bet you’ll find out.

It is quickly apparent that this is going to be narrated by the title pony himself and that Happy is no Black Beauty.  While I came down hard on Black Beauty for the difficult subject matter and old-fashioned plot, it was unequivocally well-written.  This was not.  This was painful to read.  This is the kind of beginning chapter book that makes me cringe a bit.

So what’s my gripe?  Happy is a saccharine little pony.  You can almost feel the “aw shucks” radiating off him.  And he does not want to go live away from his mommy at the big barn, oh no!  But then he’s at the barn and a talking mouse warns him against making the wrong friends.  And lo and behold, a horse gives him bad advice, which he only follows accidentally but not because he meant to.  But then everything’s okay because he meets some other horses who knew his mom.

The story was weak.  The conflict was weaker.  The pony was dull.  However, I expect there is an audience for this sort of thing and I’d wager that audience is probably Kindergarten and first grade readers who are already into chapter books and struggling second and third grade readers who tend towards an interest in animals.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

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Black Beauty

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Mrs.N

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

I don’t know how much you know about Black Beauty. I’ll attest I didn’t know much; I honestly couldn’t tell you whether or not I’d ever read it, despite owning a copy.  A quite beautiful copy it is too, bound in black leather with gold writing and an attached red bookmark, all indications that it is a classic.  Once I opened it and read the subtitle, I was a bit taken aback that it was in fact an autobiography of a horse and that I would be reading this from the horse’s perspective.

There’s a reason it’s written from the horse’s point-of-view.  Anna Sewell has an agenda, one that becomes clear as early as the second chapter.  She wants the reader to learn just how difficult a horse’s life is, and all the ways that we can contribute to the harm caused to animals, as well as the ways we could choose to improve their lives.  It is an issues book and a quite effective one, at that.

The problem with it is that since we no longer live in a society where horses are owned by many and used frequently, Sewell’s lessons about their care and treatment can be a bit lost.  Modern readers with our society’s belief in humane treatment of animals will likely find it hard to get through the litany of ills that can befall a horse.  I certainly did.  It was hard to keep coming back to the book, knowing that the next chapter was sure to just highlight more ways in which the horse will suffer.

Additionally, because it is an “autobiography” it does not follow the standard problem/solution story format.  It does not build to a climax, truly, although it does wind down to a resolution, one that I am quite relieved to report occurs years before the horse’s death.  I do have to admit I was a bit worried that we’d have to suffer Beauty’s death pains right along with him.

Furthermore, there’s moralizing throughout about the evils of alcohol and in one chapter, the importance of God and religion.

So, if you lack the background and are just thinking – ooooh, pretty horse book, classic, I shall purchase this for the horse lover in my life, then maybe, you might want to reevaluate.  If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of the humane treatment of horses, well, here you go.  And luckily, the link above will show you that if you’re not interested in an heirloom quality edition, you can read it for FREE on your Kindle.

Because of the sometimes upsetting events, the old-fashioned syntax and vocabulary and the detail heavy style, I would recommend this for tweens and up.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – A man utters “wild curses.”  Another man uses abusive language.  A man is called bad names.
Death, Violence and Gore – Some horses kick or bite, but they are ill mannered.   A boy throws sticks and rocks at the horses.  When he is caught he is given a “box on the ear”.   Men and dogs hunt a hare.  She is caught and held up by the leg “torn and bleeding”.  The men did not let the dogs tear her to pieces (not to save her, just so they could have her).  During the hunt, a man falls, breaks his neck and dies. Two horses are injured as well, one of whom is subsequently shot.  People are shooting rabbits.  A horses is badly cut by a rock.  Men are violent while breaking a horse and flog her.  Whips and spurs are used on horses, causing them to bleed. A horse’s bit causes its tongue to bleed.  A groom beats a horse.  A horse is hit with a broom and pitchfork.  Boys use a stick as a whip.  There’s a graphic explanation of docking a horse’s tail by cutting through flesh and bone.  There’s a mention of drowning puppies.  Puppies have the flap of their ears cut off -this not a punishment, but rather something that is done to certain breeds for looks – it’s clear the author’s intent is to point out that this is a terrible practice.  Two horses drown.  A pony was held using a bearing rein and nearly breaks its jaw.  A boy whips a pony, kicks him and knocks him about the head.  A pony throws a boy into a hedge.  A boy pulls the wings off of flies.  Boys fight.  Horses burn to death in a stable fire.  A man’s parents died when he was a child, leaving him and his “crippled” sister.  There is talk of how ignorance is a terrible thing and examples given include accidentally killing a baby and a boy who dressed as a ghost gave his brother fits (which from context seems like an awful thin).  A man flogs horses.  Ginger kicks and rears, hitting people and other horses.  A woman is thrown from a horse.  A horse is whipped.  A horse loses a shoe, hurts his foot, falls and throws his rider.   A man is killed in an accident, his hair is soaked with blood. A horse has a stone in its shoe which is cutting his foot.  Even after it is removed the horse is in some pain. An accident causes a shaft to be thrust into a horses chest, his flesh torn open and bleeding, blood streaming down and we’re told it would have been better for the horse if it had killed him.  A man is thrown out in an accident and broke his arm and some of his ribs.  A man fights when he drinks.  A horse relates his experience on the battlefield, including seeing bombshells, bayonets, bullets and cannonballs.  Men and horses are shot with bullets, pierced with lances, gashed with swords and left for dead in agony.  The ground is slippery with blood and covered with wounded men and horses.  There is musket fire, shot and shells.  Many men and horses are killed.  Men are knocked off their horses.  Horses are barely moving from blood loss.  Others drag themselves on 2 or 3 legs because the others are damaged beyond repair.  Army farriers run over the field shooting injured horses (this is an act of mercy, but hard to read about nonetheless).  A woman gets a letter than her mother is near death.  A man catches a fever and dies.  A horse wishes to die and is described as suffering.  She wishes to die at her work and not be sent to the knackers.  Beauty sees a dead horse he believes is a friend.  It has a lifeless tongue that is dripping with blood.  He wishes horses were shot before they came to this. A boy gives someone a thrashing.  A woman is knocked down.  In another accident a horse is pierced with a shaft.  A sure bullet is put through a horse’s heart.  A man is very ill with bronchitis, men die of it.  Horses are whipped to bleeding.  A horse collapses and believes himself to be near death.  We learn a horse will be sold because he might be worth more alive than just his skin.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A man drank a great deal.  A man is “worse for drink”.  There’s a character who has problems with alcohol.  He is fine when he is not drinking but then has a “bout”.  He becomes too drunk to do anything.  Another man drinks too much. There are drunken voters. Men drink. There is a lot of noting how drunk men were before they do terrible things to their horses.
Frightening or Intense Things – They nearly go onto a bridge that has been swept away. It is likely all involved would have drowned.  There is a fire and the stable fills with smoke. A horse is not properly warmed after a hard ride and gets sick enough that they think he might die.  A woman and her six children are turned out of their home.  A man and his child are led away by police for stealing.  The child is not sent to prison, but the man was.  Some horses are so thin that you can see their ribs, they have sores on their bodies.  A woman is taking a sick child to the hospital.

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King of the Wind

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Mrs.N

King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian by Marguerite Henry

Before there were million part series books about horses like Pony Pals and Horse Diaries and Canterwood Crest, there was Marguerite Henry.  Most famous for Misty of Chincoteague, Henry wrote numerous books about horses, all intended to please even the most fanatical horse lover.

Written in the late 1940s, King of the Wind opens with a bit about Man o’ War, one of the most famous racehorses of the twentieth century.  His line can be traced to the Godolphin Arabian.  Perhaps it was Man o’ War’s passing in the late forties that inspired Henry to pen this and this fictionalized account of his legendary ancestor.

There is no end to the horse vocabulary here.  It’s all withers and crest.  For the horse-mad, it will be simple to comprehend, for the uninitiated, it will require more work, but will come more quickly towards the end since much of it is repeated.

The story begins in Morocco (although it’s unlikely Morocco is the actual origin of the Godolphin Arabian – note fictionalized account) before the famed horse is even born.  He is tended by a mute horseboy and who accompanies him for his entire life.  Due to the era of the writing, Henry uses the term Mohammedans instead of Muslims. So given the era of this book and the setting, is Henry’s writing racist? Does she indulge in stereotypes of Arabs? It’s hard for me to tell.  I’m not as well-versed about what to look for, nor am I as familiar with the culture.  I can’t say if the clothes depicted are accurate.  But I can say that when the music of the Moroccans is called “wild” and “discordant” it’s easy to read a bit of western bias against that type of music.  And there are some characterizations of the Muslims in Morocco as bloodthirsty, although, there are some in Morocco who are also kind, so it’s not a unilateral portrayal of all Muslims in that way.  In England, the Earl of Godolphin guesses Agba’s name correctly (Agba is mute, so cannot tell him) because he once read a book with some Muslim names and Agba was the shortest one in the book.  I don’t know if that reads as racist or just cheesy.  Despite this,  it is clear that Henry loves Agba, the stable boy who follows Sham throughout his travels. The boy himself, does face racism periodically throughout the story: A french duke refers to them as “sand sifters” .  He’s called a varmint in a hood and a woman says he gives her the creeps.  The boy and the horse are described as being all of one color.  The boy is called a hooded turtle.  I’d be curious to hear from others if I’m going to easy on Henry or if there really is no grievous harm done.

So, was it exciting?  Honestly, I was into it.  I really, really didn’t think I would be and I approached it with trepidation, because a 60 year old Newbury winner about horses did absolutely nothing for me in theory.  But once I started reading, I just wanted to keep going.  The story moves from place to place quickly and its this constant movement that propels the story of Sham and Agba forward.  They are almost never in one place long enough for you to get bored.  I would say the one drawback is that it does slow in pace a bit towards the end, but hopefully readers will be well invested by that point.

The horse vocabulary isn’t the only tough vocabulary, King of the Wind is jam-packed with interesting words and evocative word choices.  Henry is not afraid of metaphor or simile either.  I would say this would be a good challenge for grades 4 and up, but if readers report boredom, I would suspect it is still a bit difficult for them.  There’s a lot of context that will be harder for them to understand – the boy king of France, the historical setting, Agba…the more well-read and worldly the reader, the smoother this will go.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A mare is pregnant and then has her foal.  There’s a reasonable amount of talk of siring horses or breeding horses.  There’s some horse flirting and talk of a horse meeting his mate.
Profanity – “dolt,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A boy is hit in the head.  A man carries a saber.  The mare dies.  A man predicts the foal will die too.  The ruler is bloodthirsty.  He would think nothing of testing the edge of a saber by cutting off a thousand heads or testing a musket by wiping out an entire village.  When Agba cannot speak to the Sultan, the Sultan fingers a knife (called a stiletto).  Guards carry spears.  Sometimes horses are whipped.  A horse is beaten.  A horse bites a man.  A horse is mistreated, badly whipped and forced to carry loads it cannot.  A man is a widower.  There’s a threat to kill a cat.  A horse is nearly starved to death.  Two stallions fight each other.  A groom tells Agba that he doesn’t care if he drowns.  A man threatens to beat Agba.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Champagne is poured in a trophy cup.  The king anticipates receiving claret.  A man takes snuff.
Frightening or Intense Things – A stable boy is a slave.  Agba knows that no horseboys who have been summoned to the palace ever returned, this frightens him.  On a sea voyage both the horseboys and the horses are nearly starved to death.  A child is imprisoned.

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The White Stallion

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Mrs.N

The White Stallion by Elizabeth Shub

Gretchen was headed out west with her family in the mid-1800s as part of a wagon train. She falls asleep in the warm sun and the horse she is riding wanders away from the group. Gretchen is far from her family, lost and scared, but a white stallion seems to know what she needs and offers her help.

Told as a story within a story, each page is mainly illustration with only a small box of text. There is some complicated vocabulary and the long-ago setting will make understanding more difficult, but the simplicity of the story makes it accessible.  This is a good challenge for readers who are just starting chapter books.

Very young readers may be fearful at times as Gretchen is alone in the wilderness, separated from her family.  She even sleeps in the woods as a coyote howls nearby.  Luckily the book is short enough that even the suspense does not last long.

I’ve been turning this story over in my head for the past few days and I finally figured out why it was striking me as being odd.  Essentially, this is a picture book which has been published in chapter book format.  The rich vocabulary despite the length of the book, the small amount of text per page, the lack of depth to the story, it all makes perfect sense if this were a picture book.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Brothers push and kick each other and bump their sister.
Frightening or Intense Things – A girl falls asleep on the back of a horse and that horse wanders off.  Horses nibble at a girl because she sits on sacks of food.  The girl is lost and alone.  A coyote howls nearby.

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Horsing Around

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Mrs.N

Have horses had their day?  When I was growing up, girls were horse mad, at least as cliche would have it.  They read horse books and longed for riding lessons and dreamed of the unattainable, their very own pony.  Long before my own childhood, boys loved horses.  They dreamt of being cowboys and watched shows like Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger and Zorro where the heroes rode in to save the day.  They charged about on stick ponies waving cap guns or cowboy hats.

But do horses have a place today?  Will modern readers still enjoy reading about stallions and fillies?  Or are we too far removed from horses for them to interest kids these days? Will the undisputed queen of horse novels, Marguerite Henry’s, books hold up? Or are only the magical and mystical counterparts, the Pegasus and the unicorn, still exciting enough to captivate today’s readers?

Saddle up, we’re horsing around this April.

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Courtship and Curses

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Mrs.N

Courtship and Curses by Marissa Doyle

This is the third book in the Leland Sisters trilogy.
Book 1: Bewitching Season
Book 2: Betraying Season

It is Sophie’s first season, one she has been dreaming of her whole life, but sadly, things are not the way she’d imagined them.  A terrible flu episode left her right leg twisted, causing her to limp, but far worse, it claimed the lives of her mother and her baby sister.  Sophie’s father’s wealth is bound to attract men, but Sophie would much rather be appreciated for who she is, not taken as a pity case.  And as gossip has circulated in society that she is everything from feeble-minded to a hunchback (or possibly both), she fears it will be a bit of a trial for her to attend the parties.

Luckily, almost immediately, she finds both a best friend and a handsome young man! Now if only someone would stop using magic to try to harm members of the War Office, she might actually be able to relax and enjoy herself!

The romance in this is very tame, far more on a par with the first of the series than the second.  Unfortunately, it’s also a bit dull, so lacks the spark and wit that will draw an adult or older teen audience to a YA book.  It will be best enjoyed by younger teens and tweens who will still find fascination in the “love at first sight” plot.

Despite being the third Leland Sisters book, this novel has only the most slight connection to the others (a few mentions of a James Leland – possibly a brother of the girls in the first two books?  My memory is weak in this area).  This means it could very well stand alone for a reader who was interested in both magic and fairly tame romance.  Also, while I was under the impression going into this that it completed a trilogy, at the end I very much felt that Marissa Doyle was not done – she seemed to be setting up at least one other book, following Sophie’s best friend.

Final verdict – depending on tastes, read #1 and #3, but skip the second racier book with a totally different feel and setting.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A widow has an interest in a girl’s father.  A woman smacks a man’s backside with her fan.  A woman has a long lost love.  People “like” each other. An older woman once planned to run off with the man she loved. Two girls want to play matchmaker.  They speculate about several couples, wanting them to rekindle old romances or fall in love and marry. There’s talk of petticoats. A girl examines her scantily clad figure in the mirror, mentioning her full breasts and wonders what a boy would think of her if he were there. A girl fears falling in love. People speculate that a seduction might take place at the opera, due to the furnishings of an opera box.  During an opera performance a man suggests that a woman’s stays be loosened because she keeps fainting. There’s talk of kissing someone senseless.  There’s talk of “paying addresses” and offering and of course, marriage.  A girl’s beau dropped her due to scandal in her family.  A man wants to pay his addresses to a girl.  A couple embraces.  A man kisses a lady’s hair.  A couple talks of marriage.  A woman is looking for a husband for her niece. A married man flirts with other women.  There’s much talk of finding husbands.  A girl speculates that a couple would like to kiss.  A hand is kissed. A man grasps a lady’s ankle.  A man kisses a lady’s ear.
Profanity –”drat”, “damme,” “”hellhound,” “bitch,” “damned”, “dashit,” “parbleu,” “Bon Dieu,” “good God,” “good Lord,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A girl’s mother and younger sister both died. A woman’s husband has died.  There’s talk of hanging Napoleon from a lamppost.  There’s also talk of war.  A man says that Napoleon should have been smothered by a pillow during the night.  There are concerns that someone is trying to kill someone else.  A girl says she wanted to box someone’s ears. A falling statue nearly injures some people.  A man is thrown from his horse.  A man nearly falls from a great height.  A girl gives someone a bloody nose.  A man dies.  A woman falls down the stairs.  Someone’s drink is poisoned.  A woman is suspected of attempted murder.  A girl’s parents have passed away.  A man’s father died.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A woman takes snuff (although it simply says she opened a box and sniffed at it without saying what it is).  Someone is sent to fetch wine.  A girl drinks wine.  Girls talk about drinking champagne.  People drink champagne.  A parrot says “another tot of gin”.  Laudanum is given for pain.  Wine is ordered for a party.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

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Path of Beasts

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Mrs.N

Path of Beasts by Lian Tanner

This is the third book in the Keepers trilogy.
Book 1:Museum of Thieves
Book 2: City of Lies

Back in Jewel after their time in Spoke, the children find the Fugleman is once again in control of the city.  He has hired mercenaries and has reinstated the dangerous Blessed Guardians.  People are captured and sold into slavery.  The city is threatened.  The museum is threatened.  And nothing but destruction lays ahead, unless Goldie, Toadspit and their friends can find a way to stop it.

In this installment, the children’s parents play a greater role than ever before and it’s actually really nice and fairly unusual from my experience to see children and their parents united for a cause in books like this.  Often characters like Goldie and Toadspit would be written as orphans in order to allow them the freedom to fight and live dangerously, but Tanner has come up with very original solutions to that and has managed in this final book to have the families come together.

There is a feeling of great satisfaction in finishing this book.  Lian Tanner achieved a perfect trilogy.  The conclusion is so carefully crafted, the ending so well resolved; it’s really a pleasure.  This series is highly recommended for strong fourth grade readers and up.

From a content standpoint, it should be understood that like its predecessors, this book is full of danger.  People’s lives are constantly in peril and there are innumerable threats and weapons throughout.  While there are a few deaths and some minor bloodshed, the overall violence and gore are minor compared with the suspense and foreboding.  In terms of other objectionable content, it is nearly clean.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A goat once predicated that a man would bear 15 children and that his husband would run off with another woman.  This did not come true and the man does not have a husband.  A woman has beetles tethered to her bosom.
Profanity – “idjit,” “bloomin’ ‘eck,” “stinkin'”, “ratbags,” men are cursing although we don’t know what they say.
Death, Violence and Gore – Men travel a road and never return. Men carry rifles.  A boy carries a sword, a girl a longbow.  A girl fears losing control and killing someone. Other soldiers carry pikes and swords and muskets.  A person is thrown in the canal to drown.  A bloodstained body is found.  A woman suffers a serious stab wound.  Children try to stop her bleeding.  A dog and cat fight viciously.  A boy carries a pistol.  In the prior book, people were going to kill the children.  A girl shot an arrow through a man’s heart. A girl died on a battlefield.  A boy mentions that someone could be killed in a duel.  A bomb killed and injured people.  There is an enormous gun (a cannon really).  Children were supposedly eaten by idle-cats.  People used to die of horrible diseases. The museum contains dangerous things like plague and famine and war.  The children carry a knife.  A pair of people are threatened with arrows and rocks.  They are tied up.  A girl feels an urge to kill.  People are threatened with a gun.  Soldiers point their rifles at people.  A cat had killed a dog that was sent to kill it. A man threatens to execute people, their families and their pets.  There is a fear of plague. A girl has a memory of an ambush that resulted in death and says it is full of death and horror. An illustration shows a man’s foot on a skull.  The man is carrying multiple weapons.  A princess promised to bring her father a man’s head in a sack. A girl worries she will end up slitting throats and cutting off ears and thinking it is a normal thing to do. Plague includes blackness of the skin from bleeding.  Soldiers wrestle people to the ground.  Men had fought in the bloodiest wars and were hardened to slaughter. They have laughed at hills of corpses.  There’s talk of executing children (who are imprisoned).   A girl feels a rage and urge to kill people with her bare hands.  Children are chained.  Someone is bitten.  A man goes to punch someone.  There’s are  multiple threats of whipping someone.  The hound threatens to eat people, shred people’s bones and grind them up.  A woman claims children are dead, fed to the sharks. A man is missing part of his nose.  Supposedly people have the plague.  Lots of guns are pointed, there are many threats to shoot people.  A building is bombarded by cannon fire.  A challenge of a duel to the death is made.  A man is tempted to run a boy through with a sword and then burn his body.   There is a Place of Remembering with ancient bones and whispering skulls.  A soldier has only one arm, another has an empty eye socket.  Human bones are scattered along a path.  A cat scratches a dog causing him to bleed. A girl plans on tearing apart vicious creatures with her bare hands. During a duel, blood is drawn, an ear is nicked, a leg is wounded, a fighter disarmed. A girl is held at sword point, her neck is cut and blood runs down it. People are kicked and slapped.  People are held at gunpoint. The pin of a brooch is stabbed into various things (a girl’s thumb, a man’s leg, etc.) causing them to bleed.  A man’s neck is snapped.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – During a recounting of the prior book, they mention how a boy was drugged unconscious.
Frightening or Intense Things – People go away and never return.  In retelling the prior book, they talk of how children were kidnapped.  There is a mass kidnapping. Children and adults are sold into slavery.

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City of Lies

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Mrs.N

City of Lies by Lian Tanner

This is the second book in the Keepers trilogy.
Book 1: Museum of Thieves
Book 3: Path of Beasts

Life is very different in Jewel after the end of Museum of Thieves.  Goldie struggles with her new life and with the pain she has so obviously caused her parents.  Determined to keep the past behind her, she sets out to end her association with the museum.  But nighttime in Jewel is not so safe as it used to be and before she knows it, Goldie is caught up in a kidnapping.  She ends up in the neighboring city of Spoke, the only hope for her captured friends.  But Spoke is a city of lies and Goldie will need all her wits about her to bring her friends home safely.

If anything, this series is getting better.  By keeping the focus on Toadspit and Goldie while introducing new characters Lian Tanner builds familiarity for her readers.  By switching out much of the supporting cast, she keeps the writing fresh and engaging.  I tore through this in only a day.

Again, this will be best enjoyed by strong fourth grade readers and up.  There’s a good deal of dialect that requires some concentration to follow.  There’s also the matter of deciphering the lies (at certain points characters must speak only lies) which will prove too complicated for some readers and therefore diminish their understanding and enjoyment.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – An illustration shows a shirtless man. A man jokes that he has three wives, all as fat as pumpkins.
Profanity – “stupid,” “moron,” “idiots,” “cretins,”
Death, Violence and Gore – There are assassination attempts.  There are stories that a princess was killed or that the man who opposed her died with a sword in his heart. A girl is depicted aiming a bow and arrow.  Someone tries to kill a king with poisoned air. An arrow is stained with blood. A girl is tied up and her forehead is bruised.  A man is stabbed with an arrow. A cat killed a dog. It scratches a man.  A man threatens a child with an iron bar.  A girl says her brother kills people.  A boy carries a knife. A boy wagers no one would notice him until he died and his corpse began to smell except the mice who might eat his fingers.  There’s a chance someone will have his throat slit. There’s talk of roasting a pigeon corpse.  A girl dreams that someone is weeping blood.  There’s mention of poisoning a husband. A cat kills a mouse.  A woman threatens to hang a man.  There is a worry that children will be killed.  An army is called up.  A man is supposedly responsible for dozens of murders. Men brawl.  Someone jokes that mice ate a woman and left nothing but her false teeth and undies. A man sends orders for children to be killed.  A boy broke his leg.  Someone is nearly drowned. Children are to be shot or drowned.  Two animals engage in a vicious fight, biting each other’s necks and drawing blood. A child is shot in the head. A girl carries a sword.  A princess says that when a man is killed and the flesh is stripped from his carcass she will give her father the man’s head to use as a spittoon. A man charges someone with returning with an enemy’s head in a sack.  The person offers to bring the ears of his lords as well.  A person wielding a sword nearly kills a friend.  People believe a child has been shot and drowned and eaten by sharks.  A woman threatens to whip people.  A man is nearly killed with poisonous air.  An arrow is shot at a gun.  A child is held over shark infested waters.  A boy is nearly strangled. A man slit another man’s throat.  A man jumps into shark infested waters.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A beerhouse is mentioned. A boy is drugged against his will. Sailors pass wine around.  A man calls a group “drunken idiots.”
Frightening or Intense Things – A man has nightmares after spending time in the House of Repentance.  A woman has a bad cough after spending time there.  A child is kidnapped.  A woman tried to sell a child into slavery.  Children imitate ghosts.

 

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Museum of Thieves

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Mrs.N

Museum of Thieves (The Keepers) by Lian Tanner

This is the first book in The Keepers trilogy.
Book 2: City of Lies
Book 3: Path of Beasts

Jewel is a city beset by dangers.  Dangers that threaten the very lives of the children.  Or at least that’s what the Guardians want everyone to believe.  As long as the children need to be protected, there will need to be Guardians.  The more danger to the children, the more powerful the Guardians become.

Goldie cannot stand the limits imposed on her freedom and therefore in a moment of impulsivity she manages the impossible.  She runs away.  Soon she learns there are people who don’t believe everything the Guardians say.  People who know about the past and keep it’s secrets and dangers safe.  But they are coming under threat from the powerful Fugleman and the Guardians.  Goldie and her new friends will be tested, but will they be able to save Jewel?

I found Museum of Thieves to be thoroughly enjoyable.  The world building is complex, particularly when you get to the real underlying questions of power and safety and whether in protecting people you can cause them harm.  For younger or more naive readers, these concepts will go right over their heads.  But for strong readers and thinkers (likely in Grade 4 and up) these are great questions to discuss with parents or in a school setting.

What else is great:  Bonus points for exciting new animals. I think everyone will be clamoring for their own brizzlehound; Broo is so endearing and yet fearsome.  Lovers of Howl’s Moving Castle and House of Many Ways will enjoy the Museum’s similar magical qualities.  Additionally, at the beginning is an illustrated characters guide which is quite charming.  In keeping with the deeper themes, this book does feature complicated vocabulary such as: vigilance, pustulous, maelstrom, imbeciles, abomination.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A man has a bare chest.
Profanity – “stupid,” “idiot,” “morons,” “damned,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A girl is punished by having to wear heavy chains.  The country’s history includes wars, floods, murders, famines and a year where “children died like flies.” A man’s forehead is covered in blood.  A child is killed by a bomb. Possible punishments mentioned are flogging, cutting off fingers, branding on the forehead and brainwashing.  A bird is said to peck out your eyes if you are injured.  There are cannons in the museum. A room seems to be made of bones.  A girl gets a cut and it bleeds.  A dog once killed a man who tormented him.  A cavern is filled with stacked human bones which are described and listed. Gunshots are heard. There’s a concern that someone has been shot.  A man’s leg is injured.  A boy carries a knife. A musket is pointed at a boy’s head.  A man threatens to shoot people.  There is some discussion of roasting and eating a pet dog.  A dog bites a man’s throat.  There’s a chance that all the old evils will break free of what is containing them and then thousands of people will die.   There are various threats. More shots are fired, one strikes someone we care about.  There is talk that a pet will not only be killed but will be stuffed and displayed.  There are plans to execute someone publicly.  Children are lied to about a bombing. They are told that children were killed, lost their arms and legs and were blinded.  They are made to believe that they will be the next target of a bomb.  Children say they are going to be eaten by someone.  Many men are killed, often shot on a battlefield.  There are nooses. There is talk of eating children.  It is recommended that a child be beaten.  There’s a chance hundreds will die.  The Fugelman says the children will soon be dead.  People’s faces are bruised.  People are presumed dead.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Men drink claret.  Goldie smells smoke and beer.  A man stinks of tobacco.
Frightening or Intense Things – In speculating about what may have happened to a missing person, the possibility of being kidnapped and enslaved is mentioned, as well as being drowned. Children are always in chains to prevent their being taken.  Dangers to children lurk everywhere, in the form of accidents and illness, slave traders, disease ridden water, sharp knives, poisonous insects, runaway vehicles, getting lost. Gods are not trustworthy. Dogs are dangerous. A child’s parents are sentenced to time in a dungeon.  The levees are endanger of breaking, flooding the city.

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