Juvenile/YA Fantasy

[rmthunter]

OK -- We won't talk about quizzes on Juvenile fiction here, but I just had my first exposure to Diana Wynn Jones and her Chrestomanci stories. This one is just out, titled Conrad's Fate, and if the rest of the series are anything like this one, anyone who needs or wants some good juvenile/YA fiction should be on the lookout for them.

Conrad is a 12-year-old boy who is sent by his uncle to work at Slattery, the estate near their town. Someone is pulling the probabilities, and Uncle Alfred, who is a magician, wants it to stop. The mystery gets steadily deeper and more bizarre, and there is a spectacular climax. The book is also hysterically funny, with that kind of madcap quality that I remember from Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog.

My review will be showing up at Green Man Review, but not for a couple of weeks.

I've also read and reviewed juvenile/YA fantasies by Nancy Springer and Kenneth Oppel, and thought they were pretty good, although Oppel's struck me as kind of scary.

Anyone have any thoughts on these, or any other authors of fantasy for this age group?

[lynnzop[$]]

No, but I'm intrigued, Bob. My son is really (finally) getting into reading (he's devouring Goosebumps I'd love to get him into something else, and these sound pretty good. What do you think for an 11 year old who is at about a 5th grade reading level?

[emeleel]

I kind of like the Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo. It's very much a Harry Potter rip-off, but I enjoy them just the same. Sean didn't get intrigued, though.

Another that Sean did like, and I recommended some time back, is "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau, and to a lesser degree the follow-up novel, "The People of Sparks". "Ember" is a post-apocalyptic story, although you really don't know that until the end. (Well, as a fairly well-read adult I was able to guess that's what it really was, but a kid wouldn't.) Excellent read, a male and female protagonist on equal terms, a really good mystery and even political intrigue. "Sparks" is not quite as good, but it was nice to follow up on what happened in the first book and see how everyone adjusted.

Not in the fantasy or sci-fi category, but still excellent reading, is the Hermux Tantamoq Adventures series by Michael Hoeye. There are three so far but we've only read the first two. Good mysteries, suspenseful at the end, excellent characters, lots of drama. The only drawback is names that make Lord of the Rings sound easy! LOL

[pippadaisy[$]]

Lynn, have you tried him with Piers Anthony? I know that was one of hubby's favorites at that age, and the reading level should be okay.

[rmthunter]

lynnzop said

No, but I'm intrigued, Bob. My son is really (finally) getting into reading (he's devouring Goosebumps I'd love to get him into something else, and these sound pretty good. What do you think for an 11 year old who is at about a 5th grade reading level?

The Diana Wynn Jones series is recommended for kids age 10/grade 5 and up, and as I said, if they're all like this one, they're wonderful. The Nancy Springer -- which is a series called "Tales of Rowan Hood," about Robin Hood's daughter and her merry band of kids, was also pretty good, but not funny, and is also at about that level, as I recall, or perhaps a little younger -- age 8 and up, I think.

You might also want to look at David Gerrold's "Dingilliad," which is a series cast as a Heinlein juvenile, i.e., science fiction in the mold of Red Planet or The Rolling Stones. As a matter of fact, I was a big Heinlein fan as a kid. I'm not sure about the age level on the Gerrold -- the hero is about 12-14, I think -- but they are excellent, if a little geeky. (I've reviewed two of those over at EA -- Bouncing Off the Planet and Leaping to the Stars.)

[lynnzop[$]]

Thanks! We have a trip to the library planned today, and I'm printing out this thread for some ideas!

[rmthunter]

Ahh -- trips to the library. My dad used to take me on Thursday nights. It was the highlight of my week. I was really impressed with myself when I was old enough to have my own library card.

PS -- let me add one more series, which was my favorite for a few years when I was in the fourth grade (but reading at about a 5th or 6th grade level): Frederick R. Brook's series on Freddy the Pig. I'm sure I've mentioned that one before (there's even a Freddy the Pig website). There are something over 20 books in the series, about a talking pig who lives on a farm in upstate NY, and has all sorts of adventures -- Freddy the Detective, Freddy and the Spaceship, etc. They're whimsical and wonderful.

[hymie[$]]

Absolutely read Diane Duane's Young Wizards series. And that's not a Harry Potter wannabe - the first book was published in 1983. The series treats wizardry as a duty and responsibility for those who choose to practice it, not just as fantasy wish fulfillment.

[rmthunter]

Add to the list Patricia McKillip's Riddle-Master trilogy, which was published as YA. It might be a little out of the interest range for an 11-year-old, but it's certainly something for a teenager.

(Odd offshoot of this -- a very dear friend teaches ESL at Temple University in Philadelphia and was complaining about finding suitable reading material for his students -- that is, something that will hold their interest, but has a comprehendible vocabulary for people whose English is not necessarily fluent and is not too long to fit into a school term. Guess what we came up with? A lot of these titles.)

[Redlass]

Ya know, her name is really familiar, but I don't think I've read any of her books yet. I think I picked up a few at the used book sale at the library and haven't gotten around to them yet.

[rmthunter]

I love her. The first of hers I read was "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld," which is a very poetic book that is also funny. That's one thing I love about Riddle-Master -- until I ran across McKillip, I didn't know fantasy was allowed to be funny. (If you find the original issue, the books are "The Riddle-Master of Hed," "Heir of Sea and Fire," and "Harpist in the Wind." They were reissued as an omnibus in the late 90s.)

Oh, and I reviewed the three volumes at Eps at one point.

[arianej]

I don't think I've read all of Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series, but I've really enjoyed what I've seen so far. It was a lucky find at the used bookstore, two thick paperbacks with volumes I and II of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Magicians of Caprona, and Witch Week. I remember reading some of it as a kid and liking it so much, I wanted to name my son Christopher Chant if I ever had one. Lucky for the hypothetical kid that I didn't, perhaps.

For other YA fantasy, I've also enjoyed Meredith Ann Pierce's Darkangel trilogy. It's quite a nice imaginative quest plot with a strong heroine, reminiscent in some ways of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia.

Geared toward slightly younger readers, I like Grace Chetwin's Gom on Windy Mountain and its sequels. Nothing too complicated, but just a very homey setting, wizards and wizard apprentices (toward the end of the series) and an endearing, independent young hero.

[rmthunter]

Actually, it sounds as though you're read all of Chrestomanci -- Conrad's Fate is the fifth, as nearly as I can make out.