Middle Grade Pick: Britfield & the Lost Crown

Britfield & the Lost Crown
by C.R. Stewart
Devonfield Publishing
2019
386 pages
ISBN: 9781732961210

First in a planned seven book series, Britfield & the Lost Crown reads likes a fairy tale. Tom, an orphan, enlists the help of fellow orphans to escape the evil orphanage with his best friend Sarah. Before he leaves, his good friend Patrick  steals a folder from the office and Tom learns a secret about his past and parentage. His parents are alive! Now he has even more questions and no answers.

The pair escape a determined and dogged detective who makes it his business to catch runaway orphans and elude police capture as the navigate by a hot air balloon which just happened to be sitting unattended in a field along their way. Somehow, two kids with no knowledge of ballooning learn to fly the balloon all over England. The story rollicks along London and many famous landmarks.

The kids meet several people who help them unlock Tom's secret and set up the next book in the series. Tame enough for younger middle grade and easy to read, Britfield's page count may terrorize reluctant readers. In that case, perhaps an audiobook or full class read would work better.

This books seems set in the past and pre-Internet, pre-cells phone bygone eras, yet some dialog between the characters is slang of today. One in particular: a character asks, "Too much information?" which if TMI in text and recent (last decade). Dialog in particular is this book's weakness. As a career middle grade (middle school) librarian, the dialog is all wrong.

Recommended younger middle grade. Middle school readers may find the story too predicable.

Grade 5- 6. Grade 7 and up may want a more YA experience.

Book Giveaway and Blog Tour: Rose and the Lost Princess

Rose and the Lost Princess
by Holly Webb
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
2014

I have ONE copy of this fab new read by Holly Webb. For your chance to win, post a comment on this blog. Please include first name, city, state and email contact. The winner will be chosen randomly by Randomizer. Deadline for posts is Tuesday, April 15 at noon MST. The winner will be notified on that date; please check your email shortly after noon MST on April 15. The winner has 24 hours to contact me. The publisher will ship to Canada and U.S. addresses. Good luck and start posting! Book giveaway now OPEN.

Join the blog tour:

Tu April 1 Bonnie Wagner A Backwards Story http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/
Wed April 2 Heidi Grange Geo Librarian http://geolibrarian.blogspot.com/
Th April 3 Suzanne Costner The Fairview Review http://fveslibrary.blogspot.com
Fri April 4 Pamela Thompson YA Books - What We're Reading Now booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com
Sat April 5 Kristen Harvey The Book Monsters www.thebookmonsters.com
Sun April 6 Jessica Nottingham Hopeless Bibliophile www.hopelessbibliophile.com

Mon April 7 Stephanie Turner Cover 2 Cover Blog www.cover2coverblog.blogspot.com
Tues April 8 Sharon Schmidt Tyler Sharon the Librarian http://sstwriting.blogspot.com/
Wed April 9 Dena Batch of Books www.batchofbooks.com
Th April 10 Aeicha Word Spelunking http://wordspelunking.blogspot.com/
Fri April 11 Kelly Hager Kelly Vision http://kellyvision.wordpress.com/
Sat April 12 Karen Nelson Central MN Mom http://centralmnmom.com/
Sun April 13 Sarit Coffe & Books & Art http://sarityahalomi.blogspot.com/

Mon April 14 Sara Grochowski The Hiding Spot http://thehidingspot.blogspot.com
Tues April 15 Deborah Debz Bookshelf http://debzbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Wed April 16 Tiffany Erickson Miss Tiff Reads www.misstiffreads.blogspot.com
Th April 17 Teri Crosby Snarky Mamma http://snarkymamma.blogspot.com/
Fri April 18 Lory Widmer Emerald City Book Review http://emeraldcitybookreview.blogspot.com/
Sat April 19 Debbie Alvarez The Styling Librarian http://thestylinglibrarian.com/
Sun April 20 Erin Al-Mehairi Hook of a Book http://hookofabook.wordpress.com/

Mon April 21 Orsayor Young-Simmons Book Referees http://bookreferees.blogspot.com/
Tues April 22 Megan T Inspired by Fiction http://inspiredbyfiction.blogspot.com/
Wed April 23 Kyra Morris Blog of a Bookaholic http://blogofabookaholic.blogspot.com/
Th April 24 Jenny Wondrous Reads http://www.wondrousreads.com/
Fri April 25 Tanya Johnson Tanya's Book Nook http://tanyasbooknook.blogspot.com
Sat April 26 Pam Torres Madison and Cooper's Blog http://www.madisonmorgan11.com/madisonmorgan11.com/Home.html
Sun April 27 Allie In Bed With Books http://inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com

Mon April 28 Erin PreFontaine Jump Into Books http://jumpintobooks.blogspot.com/
Tues April 29 Amanda One Momma Saving Money http://www.onemommasavingmoney.com/
Wed April 30 Natalie Literary Rambles http://www.literaryrambles.com/
Th May 1 Hope Clippinger Hope to Read www.hopetoread.com
Fri May 2 Ashley P. Tales of Mommyhood www.talesofmommyhood.com
Saturday May 3 Marcie Turner To Read or Not To Read http://www.toreadornottoread.net
Sunday May 4 Rubina Ramesh The Book Club - Rubina Ramesh http://rubinaramesh.blogspot.com/

Mon May 5 Sheila Ruth Wands and Worlds http://blog1.wandsandworlds.com/

From the Publisher:

Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

ISBN: 9781402285844; April 1,2014; $6.99; U.S.; Juvenile Fiction/Independent Reader; Trade Paper

About Rose and the Lost Princess: Rose’s whole life has changed in a matter of weeks. She’s gone from being a lonely orphan to a magician’s apprentice, though she’s learned that power comes at a price. Even Rose’s friends don’t seem to trust her anymore, especially when rumors of dark magic begin to swirl through the city.

Then the country’s beloved princess vanishes, and the king asks Rose for her help. She must find the missing princess and put a stop to the evil magician behind the kidnapping… before all is lost.

About the Author: Holly was born and grew up in southeast London but spent a lot of time on the Suffolk coast. As a child, she had two dogs, a cat, and at one point, nine gerbils (an accident). At about ten, Holly fell in love with stories from Ancient Greek myths, which led to studying university. She worked for five years as a children’s fiction editor before deciding that writing was more fun and easier to do from a sofa. Now living in Reading with her husband, three sons, and two cats, Holly runs a Guide unit. The Rose books stem from a childhood love of historical novels and the wish that animals really could talk.

Fantasy Pick: Rose

Rose
by Holly Webb
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
2013
272 pages

Available September 3, 2013

Imaginative, clever, and beguiling, Rose is that one book that tweens and teens will remember. Rose is an eleven year old orphan--or maybe she's twelve--she doesn't know her true age. She was left at St. Bridget's Home for Abandoned Girls where she's spent the last nine years. It isn't a bad orphanage, if you can get past the rules and the chores and the not so great food. Maisie, Rose's friend at the orphanage, spends idle hours with Rose pretending to be daughters of royalty.

A lady arrives at the orphanage and chooses Rose to work as a house servant for Mr. Fountain, a well-known alchemist (magician). Rose is happy to have her own room and FOUR dresses to wear. The girls at the orphanage would think it grand to have their own room and wardrobe. Mr. Fountain's house is huge and fascinatingly magical. Rose notices weird happenings right away. She is uncertain how she is able to talk to Gustavus, Mr. Fountain's cat, but she likes him. Freddie is a little jealous that Rose can do magic, but they become good friends.

When children begin to disappear, it's up to Rose to solve the mystery and return the children before they die. Freddie, Isabella, Gustavus and Rose hatch a plan to catch the kidnapper, but they fall into a trap. Will the team be able to rescue themselves and the others? Will Mr. Fountain be able to save them in time?


Rose is smart, quick, clever, and intuitive. Readers will love the magic that is Mr. Fountain's house and the talking cat, Gustavus. The beautiful, captivating cover art is sure to draw young readers in. The cover sells this book, but the writing will keep readers turning the pages.

Highly recommended grade 4-up.

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

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Spooky Pick

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall

The Ghost of Crutchfild Hall
by Mary Downing Hahn
Clarion Books(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
2010.
153 pages

Thomas Crutchfield has been looking for his orphaned great-niece for seven years. Finally located, Florence is finally able to escape the dismal orphanage in London to travel to her great-uncle's estate in the English countryside. Crutchfield Hall is so different from London. Set in the countryside, its gloomy and forbidding exterior and Gothic appearance remind readers of the Bronte sisters' novels with their vast, wet moors and haunted mansions.

Uncle Thomas is polite enough and takes great care to welcome Florence. Her great-aunt Eugenie, on the other hand, is quite rude and downright cruel to Florence. The only other occupants of the manor are a few servants and cousin James, a sickly, bed-ridden little boy who is not able to play with Florence. She is so lonely--she longs to be back at the orphanage where her friends are. One other occupant roams Crutchfield Hall--Cousin Sophia, a ghost. Sophia is not a nice ghost--she wants revenge on James and blames him for her death. She is not happy when Florence moves in either.

The author is a solid ghost story writer and popular with the tween segment. Readers who like Hahn's other books will flock to this one. Entertaining and spooky.

Recommmended for tweens and younger, grades 4-8.
Recommended for those readers who love ghost stories.

FTC Required Disclaimer: the Advance Readers copy was furnished to me by the publisher. This fact does not influence my review in any way. I was not paid to review this book.