Don't Expect Magic

Don't Expect Magic by Kathy McCullough follows Delaney who moves to California to live with her estranged father, a famous life coach after the death of her mother.  Delaney feels blinded by the sunshine and positive attitudes in California and longs to go back to New Jersey when she finds out a secret.  Her father is a fairy godmother, able to make transformations to fulfill wishes and Delaney may be one too.

I loved this book.  It was cute and quirky and filled with great characters and a bit of magic.  Delaney was a great bad girl who rebelling against the world who finds herself changed by her surroundings and her ability to cause positive change in others.  There is just a bit of romance but it was of equal importance to the relationship that develops between Delaney and her father and her friends.  I loved this book, found it impossible to put down and finished it quickly.

Appropriateness:  This is a light and fluffy book with no adult content.  The romance is sweet and just hinted at.  There is a fantastic message of being oneself while not shutting others out.  I would recommend this to readers 11+

Sucks to Be Me

  Mina's parents are vampires and now Mina has several weeks to decide if she wants to change into a vampire and leave her life behind or stay human and loose her family. There are of course boys, best friends, the junior prom and teachers complicating her life.


This is a fun book for teens. It's a quick read and has a plot and characters that young teens will embrace. If you are a fan of Sarah Mlynowski's Magic in Manhattan series or Meg Cabot's paranormal romances then you will love this book. It is light and cute as opposed to deep sexy and scary like vampire books written for older teens.

Appropriateness:  This book has no sex scenes (and the only mentions of sex are related to sex talks with parents) which makes it appropriate for young teens and tweens who want to read about teenagers but aren't ready for books that have more adult themes. This is a perfect book for the middle school set.

Once a Witch

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough features Tasmin, a young woman born into a family of witches. While the rest of her family has grown up learning to develop their talent Tasmin has grown up without a talent. When a strange man mistaking Tasmin for her sister asks for some help in finding a lost clock Tasmin discovers that her world is nothing like she thought it was.

I really enjoyed the story, the elements of witchcraft and time travel made the story interesting and the author developed a character that young people can find relateable. 

Appropriateness:  Once a read is a great story for teens. The writing is complex enough and the characters and plot line interesting enough for older teens (and adults who like YA lit) but the content is mild enough that it would be appropriate for younger readers who enjoy stories about older teens. There is no sexual content and the romance is secondary to the action.

The Magnolia League

  The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch follows Alex, a deadlocked hippie raised on a communal farm after the death of her mother as she moves to Georgia to live with her rich grandmother who is the leader of the elite Magnolia League.  Alex soon finds out that the good looks and riches that come to the Magnolia League are the result of magic and that magic comes with a cost.

The Magnolia League while flawed was very engrossing.  Alex was a likable character and the magic of the Magnolia Girls (MG's) made for a story that flowed very well and I had no problem finishing the book and will be reading the sequel.  However, unlike in many novels instead of the main character learning and growing from her experiences Alex became more vapid and shallow as each chapter progressed and only had a slight redemption in the end. 

Appropriateness:  This is not a book I would recommend to teenagers that are not reading adult books on a regular basis.  The substance use was so frequent (and not portrayed negatively) in this book that it bothered me.  The main character was raised on a pot farm and smokes pot a lot with no consequences at all and there is also lot of drinking and partying which is encouraged by the adults in her life.  In the beginning of the book for example, Alex is found smoking pot by her grandmother who tells her that it smells bad and that she should smoke cigarettes instead because that's what they own stock in.  The drug use is seen to be normal, and no big deal.  The pot growing farm that Alex is born on is seen as bad only in a consumerist way.  Alex goes to several drunken parties and her friends drug her to perform magic several times.  Her romantic relationships were unhealthy (with her first boyfriend calling her Pudge and refusing to acknowledge her relationship in public) and she was more worried about the physical aspects of her relationships (and willing to take them to the next level very quickly) than the emotional.  If your child chooses to read this book I'd be sure to have a long discussion about drug use, healthy relationships and why money and looks will not make you happy.  


This book will be enjoyed by teens who enjoyed The Lying Game, and the  Gossip Girl series.


Review copy obtained by publisher.

Entwined

Entwined by Heather Dixon is a retelling of the fairy tale The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  The story is told from the point of view of the oldest princess Azalea.  When Azalea's mother dies and her father the king leaves and goes off to war Azalea and her sisters are in morning and while in morning they are not allowed to dance.  The girls find a secret passageway and make their way to a dance floor where they can dance unseen.  The girls go every night to dance and eventually find out that everything isn't as simple as it seems.

I loved this book.  I was a little unsure at first because it was HUGE (the finished product will be almost 500 pages), however the author did a fantastic job of pacing the story and providing interesting details to make for a magical book.  I was engaged and interested throughout the book and to the very end.  The girls are all named for flowers and their names are in alphabetical which makes it easy for a forgetful reader to know which sister is which and the author did a fantastic job making each character different in a book with such a huge cast of characters.  I was thrilled with the perspective of the oldest sister instead of the man who solves the mystery (as is usually told) and the trips to the woods were very well explained and logical.

Appropriateness:  Aside from a little scariness there was nothing in this book that readers would find objectionable.  The book is very long and very detailed and the heroine is in her late teens and thinking about marriage so I would put the interest age at 14+ with a note that younger readers who are interested in the story and not intimidated by the length would also enjoy the book.

Readers who are interested in the tale The Twelve Dancing Princess will also enjoy Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George.  There is also a rendition of the story in Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: The Complete Collection (although the soldier is really creepy and the sisters are somehow all the same age) that is available instantly though netfilx.

Review copy obtained from Amazon Vine

Fairy books by Daisy Meadows

Daisy Meadows has several series that are perfect for girls who are just starting chapter books (either as read alouds or independently) .  There are jewel fairies and dance faeries and animal fairies (and many many more that I am missing).  Each series contains several books with easily predictable plots.  They follow Kristy and Rachel as they search for the fairies to save fairyland from whatever evil plot Jack Frost has cooked up.

I would buy these books by the box set so you have all of them set and if you're reading them aloud I would suggest that you only agree to read one series as you'll get bored after one set (because they all have the same plot).  My husband recorded himself reading them (each book takes about 45 minutes) a couple years ago and my daughter still likes to listen and read along occasionally.

These books are perfect for girls ages 4-8.  They have adventures and bad guys, are a little bit scary and most importantly the girls are polite and good role models and the girls use good grammar (unlike someone we know named Junie B Jones).  The lexile for each book is around 520 (guided reading level M) which puts them at a late second/early third grade level.  They're perfect for younger advanced readers and work well as read a louds for those being newly introduced to chapter books.

The Dragon Keeper Series

The Dragon Keepers Series by Kate Klimo consists of four books.  Dragon Keepers #1: The Dragon in the Sock Drawer, Dragon Keepers #2: The Dragon in the Driveway , Dragon Keepers #3: The Dragon in the Library and the fourth book Dragon Keepers #4: The Dragon in the Volcano which will be released in late May.  These books follow ten year old cousins Jessie and Daisy who find that that the geode that they picked up while on a hike hatches revealing a talking baby dragon which they name Emmy.  Jessie and Daisy have to take care of Emmy and protect her from the evil St George who uses dragon blood to stay alive.

This series is very well written.  It has beautiful descriptive passages with difficult vocabulary words that are set in a context that young readers can infer their meanings without trouble.  Each chapter begins with a delightful picture to help kids picture the scene.  Emmy is very funny and does things that made my daughter laugh out loud.  The male and female leads make this a book which is equally enjoyable for both boys and girls.

Appropriateness:  I would recommend this book to an elementary school aged audience.  The lexile is 680 putting it at a high third grade level (a step up from the beginning chapter books).  The book has about 150 pages with chapters of varying lengths.  It is a story that very young readers can enjoy making it a great read aloud or book for advanced younger readers.  Older elementary school readers will find it interesting and funny enough to keep them engaged and the story is one that even reluctant readers will enjoy.

Princess for Hire

Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt follows Desi, a girl who just wants to make an impact.  Desi is a independent girl who loves designing her own t-shirts.  She's feeling down on herself when she makes a wish on a magic fish.  Later while looking in the paper she sees an add for stand in princesses.  She's soon whisked off in a magical bubble to start her new job stepping in for princesses so they can take a break from their lives.  Desi not only steps into the lives of the princesses she's subbing for but she tries to make them better.

This is a delightful fluffy read that girls will love.  Who hasn't dreamed of being a princess for a day?  Desi's adventures are fun and exciting and there is a touch of romance thrown in to wrap everything up.  The book reads like a Disney channel movie with a main character who is a good role model and who fights for what she believes is right.  This is a book that's perfect for the young romantic.  It has a sweet romance with a first kiss and a realization that finding a boy that likes her and treats her well is what she really wants.


Appropriateness:  There is nothing even slightly objectionable in this book and I would have no problem handing it to a fourth grader who wanted to read a romance and I think it would be loved by middle school aged readers.  The lexile is 670 putting it about a fourth grade reading level.

The sequel Princess for Hire: The Royal Treatment will be released in early May.

Beastly

Beastly by Alex Flinn is a modern retelling of The Beauty and the Beast story.  The story starts out with Kyle a rich, beautiful, super popular boy inviting an ugly unpopular girl to the dance as a joke.  After he returns home he is confronted by her and finds that she is a witch.  She turns him into a horrible beast and tells him that in order to release the spell he must fall in love and the girl must kiss him.  Kyle moves into a house alone with just his housekeeper and his blind tutor and changes his name to Adrian.  When a drug addicted man breaks into his house and offers to give Adrian his daughter Linda he insists that the man bring him his daughter to live with him.

Beastly is a delightful modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story.  It focuses on inner beauty and character development.  I appreciated that the author did not make the relationship between Linda and Adrian abusive at all.  This wasn't a story about a girl taming a beast (such as the Disney version) but a story of a boy learning to value character, intelligence and  personality over looks and money and a girl being able to love him for the changes he has made on the inside.

Appropriateness:  This is a book that middle schoolers will love.   There is one incidence of drinking in the beginning (used to illustrate what a horrible person Kyle is) but besides that there is no objectionable material in the book.  The romance is sweet and the message is terrific.  The lexile is 580 putting it at a low fourth grade level which makes it an excellent book for reluctant readers.

The movie adaptation of the book is to be released in early March.

The Iron Witch

The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney follows Donna who has hands that are laced with iron giving her extra strength.  Donna whose father died while saving her from wood elves and whose mother is insane has been dealing with the alchemist world alone and unable to tell anyone when her best friend Navin finds out about the world.  She also meets Xan a half breed fairy who helps her find Navin when he is kidnapped by the wood elves.


This book suffered from too much world building and introduction.  It takes half the book before anything major happens and much of what we are told is unnecessary for the plot, I'm not sure if the author was setting everything up for the trilogy but it made for a very slow read.  About three quarters of the way through the plot sped up and it became more interesting.  The book ended nicely with room for a sequel.


Appropriateness:  There are some vague drug references that I missed on my first read though.  The main character is in her late teens.  I would place the interest level at 13+ and I would only recommend this book for hard core fairy fans.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George is a beautiful retelling of the Norwegian folk tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon.  An ice filled fairytale of a girl who lives in an ice castle with a polar bear and has to fight the troll queen.

This is a beautiful retelling that fills in the holes in the original story. I was unfamiliar with the fairy tale when I read this book and fell in love.  The princess is smart and crafty and strong and has to save her prince from the evil troll queen.

Appropriateness:  This is a book that will speak to all ages.  The content is G rated (the prince does sleep on the other side of the bed with the girl but it is innocent) and the tale is so sweet that I checked to see if they had the audio version at the library for my six year old daughter to listen to.  On the other hand when my English teacher father was here for Christmas he read the book and declared that he enjoyed it very much (which is a lot for him).    The lexile is 810 which puts it at a mid fifth grade level which is perfect for middle school readers and the content makes it acceptable for upper elementary school advanced readers who would like a little romance (and a strong princess for once!).