Fantasy Romance Adventure Pick: Rebel of the Sands

Rebel of the Sands
by Alwyn Hamilton
Viking
2016
314 pages
ISBN: 9780451477538

Editorial Reviews

Review

Raves for REBEL OF THE SANDS:* “Romantic, thrilling, hilarious, and just plain great fun.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* “This atmospheric fantasy combines magic, mythology, and the Wild West to create a riveting tale...an exciting, romantic adventure that is unique and all its own.”—Booklist, starred review

* “If the best of the Old West and the coolest parts of Arabian Nights had a baby who then rebelled by going steampunk, the result would be this gem of a book.”—BCCB, starred review

* “Readers will be drawn into the story and won’t want to put this book down.”—School Library Connections, starred review

“Rebel of the Sands is a winning bit of storytelling, as well as a homage to storytelling itself. It evokes such disparate influences — 1,001 Arabian Nights, Hindu lore and Navajo myth, as well as, inevitably, the triumvirate of Tolkien, Lucas and Rowling — that at times you wonder whether Hamilton can pull it all off. She can. She has circled a spot on the map and claimed it for her own.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Debut author Hamilton combines elements of Western and Middle Eastern civilization and lore with her own mythology, crafting an enticing, full-bodied story . . .  successfully mingles romance with thrilling stakes, and hints at a welcome sequel.”—Publishers Weekly“A perfect combination of American Westerns and Arabian myths . . . Fans of Sarah Maas and Victoria Aveyard should give this one a try.” —VOYA

“Rebel of the Sands is vivid, romantic, and wildly entertaining. You will cheer for Amani the whole way as she escapes the bonds of oppression and finds her own power, and you will mark your calendar for the sequel.”—Rae Carson, bestselling author of the Fire & Thorns trilogy

“Buckle up for a wild ride! Rebel of the Sands is a stunning debut full of irresistible energy, heart-stopping action, and a new voice that sings.”—Alison Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of Eon and Eona

As sweeping as the sands of time, the epic story of Amani Al'Hiza and the kingdom of Miraji, will excite and delight scores of readers. Amani refuses to be pigeon holed as just a lowly girl in this male dominated  kingdom. Amani can shoot a gun better than any man. She is fierce and a fighter, competitive in every aspect of her being. She longs for escape from the small and backward desert outpost of Dustwalk. Its sad shops and even sadder people are stifling.

Hoping to win a shooting match, Amani disguises herself as a boy and enters (I think, give a girl a gun, and I'm in). It is soon clear that even if she wins, the crowd of betters and thugs will never let her escape with her winnings. It's down to three competitors. The blue eyed Bandit (Amani), a handsome foreigner, and a very drunk, very loud behemoth. Amani and the newcomer make a deal to throw the game and the house will still pay them and the drunk will win. An epic brawl breaks out with Amani and the man fleeing.

Now penniless, Amani doesn't know what to do. The gods are smiling upon her when a Buraqi enters her village. If she is able to catch the magic beast, she can use it to escape and later sell it at a huge profit. Amani and Jin escape the town and the Sultan's forces by train, This is the first leg of their journey which will test their strength and spirit.

Secrets will be revealed and old magic will come alive as Amani and Jin manage to keep each other alive and on the move. Vivid world building and breakneck action will keep readers turning the pages. Think Arabian Nights and  epic western. Some may find the foreign names a bit of a mouthful, but like Russian novels, if you can get past the names, the story is intense.

Highly recommended grade 8-up. Mature situations.

FTC Required Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Tween Pick: My Epic Fairy Tale Fail

My Epic Fairy Tale Fail
by Anna Staniszewski
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
2013
224 pages

Jenny is an adventurer--an ordinary girl who just happens to pop into magical kingdoms to right the wrongs of magical and strange creatures. When the Merpeople can't get along, Jenny shows up to save the day; however, things aren't going as planned. Anthony, a garden gnome who is her guide, pops in  and takes her out of there in the knick of time. He tells her that the Committee has other plans for her.

Jenny is being sent to The Land of Tales--where all the magical fairy tales do come true. A wicked witch has stopped the land's magic and the kingdom is suffering. Jenny has to perform three impossible tasks and the witch will give the kingdom back its magic, and Jenny makes a deal with the witch--the witch will tell her where to find her missing parents.

Her friends Trish and Melissa join her in her quest. The girls meet a variety of quirky characters: a wolf who can't catch a giant rooster, the king and queen who have been turned into a chair and a rug, a princess who needs a good night's sleep, angry villagers who want her to leave and blame her parents for bringing the curse upon them, and a brave but silly knight in shining armor who is prisoner to the metal suit. He clangs and clunks throughout the novel offering comic relief.

Jenny is able to complete her tasks and the kingdom gets its magic back but she is not much closer to finding her parents. She has only one clue to go on: they were taken by the fairies, but Jenny has no idea how to find the fairies or how to work with them.

Jenny is spunky and snarky with a fast wit and sarcastic tongue. Readers will like her and admire her tenacity in tough situations.

Recommended grade 5-up. Anyone who enjoys the recent popularity of stories with fairy tale elements will like My Epic Fairy Tale Fail.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Fairy Tale Girl Pick: Falling In

Falling In
by Frances O'Roark Dowell
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
April 2012 (paperback edition)
245 pages

Mesmerizing, memorable, magnificent, and magical, Falling In has everything a great girl book must have: a fantastic, fierce, and feisty female protagonist, a quirky quest, a magical setting, fantastical beings, all controlled by the rules of a fairy tale world.

Isabelle marches to the beat of her own drummer; she hates "girly" things that all the other middle school girls seem to like. She hates the mall, preferring to find her own clothes--near a garbage can or at the consignment store. Her favorite boots are a little too big and very red, but they make her stand out. Isabelle dislikes school, too. The teachers are sad and boring most of the time. About teachers, Isabelle says:

"Teacher's colleges had equipped them to handle nose pickers, fire starters, back talkers, hitters, biters, and whiners. But quiet girls who weren't shy, girls who talked in riddles but were never actually rude, girls who simply refused to comb those confounded bangs out of their eyes, well, girls like that were beyond them."


When Isabelle gets in trouble and sent to the principal's office, she never actually makes it there. First she sits down to admire her boots and then watches a classmate enter the nurse's office. Seconds later, she hears a scream. She investigates, of course. Charley swears she's seen a mouse--not an ordinary field mouse--this mouse seemed about ready to have a conversation with her! Isabelle opens the closet in the nurse's office and FALLS IN and finds herself in another world entirely. There are doors like that, you know, doors that lead to another possibility if you'd only open them (a wink to the author).

The first kids Isabelle meets mistake her for the witch who has been terrorizing their little towns, devouring innocent children and babies. Then she meets Hen, a girl in the woods who needs help finding her friends. After twisting her ankle, Isabelle is "saved" by a woman named Grete who seems strange to Hen but seems magically soothing to Isabelle.

Isabelle feels at home in this fairy tale world where cures are herbal and natural and life is slower and wiser. It suits her pace and sense of whimsy. She tells Grete that she's decided to stay. As fate would have it, Isabelle FALLS OUT and returns to her mother, but realizes that her mother has a magic of her own. Isabelle says:

"The doors are out there. If you could just twist a few out-of-the-way doorknobs, check the custodian's closet at your school, pay attention to the ground under the soles of your shoes--If you feel a buzz beneath your toes, let me know."

Most of the story is told by Isabelle, but the author interrupts now and then to tell the reader some back story about fairies or magic. I loved the way the author spoke directly to the reader, admonishing her to pay attention or warning her about some fairy magic.

Highly, highly recommended for any reader who enjoys a funny story about a stange girl who doesn't really ever want to "fit it" with the popular kids, a girl who really wants to meet a witch and believes that she herself is a changeling planted in the real world by fairies. Isabelle will have many avid followers and that band of merry misfits will cheer when a true individual wins.

Grades 4-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not received moentary compensation for this review.

Paranormal Pick

13 Treasures
by Michelle Harrison
Little, Brown and Company, 2010.
355 pages

A remarkable debut novel from a new voice across the pond (England). 13 Treasures is truly a treasure of a book. Tanya's mother forces her to go to her grandmother's spooky family estate far from the city. Tanya thinks the old mansion is creepy and overgrown and especially can't stand being around Fabian, the estate manager's son. At least her mother allowed her to take her trusted dog Oberon with her.

Soon, the house's dark side is revealed and Tanya is given a charm bracelet with 13 weird charms. A gypsy woman, considered a witch by townsfolk, gives Tanya a strange compass that seems to be broken.

Fairies, good and bad, want Tanya to come to Hangman's Wood. With Fabian's help, Tanya hopes to solve her family's mystery and fix its tainted past and free herself forever from the fairies.

Harrison has a gift for setting and tone. For example when describing Tickey End (love that name for a town) Harrison writes, "It was also the kind of town where everybody knew everybody, and if you were a stranger curtains would twitch as you walked past."

Masterful storytelling! 13 Treasures is a quick read--a real page-turner. Readers who love mystery, gothic elements, fairy tales, and things that go bump in the night will love this tale.

Highly, highly recommended: grades 6-10.

FTC Required Disclosure: I bought this book for my middle school library. I received no monetary compensation for this review.

Paranormal Pick

Wings
by Aprilynne Pike
Harper Teen (Harper Collins Publishers)
2009
293 pages

Fellow Utah native Stephenie Meyer, says of author Aprilynne Pike's novel, "Wings is a remarkable debut."

It is a truly unique novel that had this reviewer engaged from the moment I picked it up. You think you know all about fairies, trolls, King Arhur, Merlin and Avalon, but then you read Wings.

Highly readable and thoroughly engaging, paranormal and romance fans will love this book. Readers may believe in fairies after meeting Laurel--just a normal girl who happens to be home schooled and never has seen a doctor. Oh, and Laurel never remembers being injured or bleeding either. The truth is--Laurel doesn't have red blood at all--she discovers her cells are actually plant cells. If that isn't strange enough, she soon encounters others like her and must choose between her "human" life and a life with the fairies.

Recommended for YA collections grades 8-up. Some violence--but it's against trolls, not humans.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from a fellow librarian who gets ARCs from publishers. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

High School Pick

Creature of the Night
by Kate Thompson
Roaring Brook Press/Holtzbrinck Publishing, 2008.
250 pages.

Bobby leaves Dublin, Ireland, kicking, screaming, and swearing that he'll never move to the country. He vows to return to Dublin and his checkered past. Bobby's mother has other ideas; she moves Bobby and his younger brother Dennis to the Irish countryside to escape the poverty of Dublin and to get Bobby away from the bad influence of older neighborhood thugs who use Bobby as a "bag man." They know if he is caught by the police, they will let him go because of his age.

Bobby is quite a criminal for one so young--he is a practiced purse snatcher and thief, hot wiring and stealing cars, and joy riding all over Dublin. He is headed for prison for sure. This "urban fiction" book is today's version of The Outsiders.

Once in the country, the family settles into a cozy cottage with a shady past. It is whispered that an old couple killed their daughter in this cottage years before. They were never convicted and never faced time; still, where is that daughter? Then, more recently, a Swedish tourist rented the cottage and soon disappeared.

Irish folk tales of fairies and little people make this book magical and help cushion the volatile relationship between Bobby and his mother. The landlord and his family take an interest in Bobby and show him how to work their large farm. Bobby, although learning new skills, keeps trying to turn away from good and go back to his criminal past.

Kate Thompson walks a fine line in handling a fast paced plot with a tragic character who seems to have no shining qualities, telling a mystery story within the story, and sprinkling magical Irish fairy dust betwixt both. It takes artistry to evoke sympathy for a character like Bobby, a hardened youth, but Thompson is able to force the reader into caring what happens to Bobby and to root for him.

Several mysteries meet in the denouement but one question remains unanswered: Who really is the creature of the night? Class discussions and book groups would have a good time with this read.

Recommended for grade 8-high school readers.
Language, criminal behavior, adult situations. No sex.