Phil’s Comments (group member since Dec 22, 2015)

Phil’s comments from the NJ: Young Fantasy Reads Book Group (Paramus) group.

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2017:

THE FARTHEST SHORE (Earthsea 3).................Ursula K LeGuin.........................10/19/17
DOVE EXILED (Dove Chronicles 2).....................Karen Bao...................................08/17/17
DOROTHY MUST DIE (Dorothy 1).......................Danielle Paige............................05/18/17
SQUIRREL GIRL MEETS WORLD.........................Dean Hale & Shannon Hale.....04/20/17
MOTHERSHIP (Expanded Universe 1)...............Martin Leicht & Isla Neal..........03/16/17
THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE...........Neil Gaiman...............................02/16/17
SCARLET (Lunar Chronicles 2)...........................Marissa Meyer............................01/19/17

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2016 Philip J De Parto.


THE TOMBS OF ATUAN
Teenaged Arha (aka Tenar aka The Eaten One), taken from her family at age 5 to serve the Nameless Ones, is the lead character. As their High Priestess, only she is allowed to traverse the treasure-ridden underground labyrinth. Enter the wizard Sparrowhask (aka Ged), hero of A WIZARD OF EARTHESA, who has come to the maze to retrieve the lost Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Arha activates a trap which imprisons the mage. She is curious about the world outside the island of Atuan and initiates a series of conversations with the wizard. Eventually Arha realizes that her gods are leading her down a dark path. The two join forces, recover the ring, and depart the island.

The book was written in 1971 and YA readers accustomed to fast-paced narratives of kick-ass heroines may find it slow going. I personally enjoyed that the book took its time in getting to the action and that Arha does not pick up a sword to go charging into battle. Her heroic journey is to see through the web of lies which have bound her since childhood and escape her barren existence. Recommended.

SHADOW SCALE
Although the ending felt a bit cliched, this is a novel well worth reading. The story relates the half-human/half-dragon (dragons can shape-change and breed) Seraphina Dombegh's quest to recruit a group of fellow ityassaris (half-breeds) whose collective abilities may be enough to tip the balance in favor in favor of the of the dragons who desire to live in peace with humans and against those who seek to prey upon mankind.

Phil particularly enjoyed the world-building: the language of Polyphyry (two sexes, but six genders and seven cases), the ropes attached to bells in the temple of Chakhon so that the passage of visitors is accompanied by chimes, and the rich description of the sights and sounds of everyday life in this world. Phil's favorite line was Seraphina's realization that "I've found my people and they weren't even mine (Page 427)."

DOVE ARISING
We all liked the book and its characters. Liz thought the science was handled well and that it read like science fiction. Phil appreciated that it avoided some aspects of the typical YA like a love trilogy (though Liz and Jeni saw subtle sparks). Jeni felt that the elements of Chinese culture rang true. We enjoyed the world building, particularly the militant atheism of the Lunar government. Highly recommended. We are sure to read the next book in the series.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
This was a children's fantasy which had some amusing moments, but not terribly much to talk about.

The story is set on a group of islands populated by gruff, aggressive Vikings who catch baby dragons and train them as warrior companions. Hiccup winds up with the runt of the litter who, unsurprisingly, saves the day when a pair of huge, hostile dragons pay a visit.

Liz commented that there were no women to speak of in the book. We enjoyed the reprint of the original Viking (the warrior, not the publishing company) text of the book and that the Viking chief was torn between tradition and the love of his son, but overall, there's not much there there.

I AM NUMBER FOUR
The book is a mixed bag. Everyone agreed that the teens sounded authentic, unlike those found in many other YA works which have their leads behave in age-uncharacteristic ways. Pam liked the voice. Karen liked the chimera, Bernie Kosar, and the Girl Power of Number Six. Phil liked the redemption of Mark and how the paranoid newspaper rags were correct about aliens living among us.

On the minus side, please remember to turn off your brain while reading the book. The Lorien refugee good guys are just swell, the Mogadrian bad guys are pure evil and terrible shots, the science is New Age cringe worthy, and things happen for no reason than to advance the plot. We have read worse, but I can't honestly recommend it.

MAGIC TEACHER'S SON
The book straddles the border between Young Adult and Middle Grade. The characters were originally written as being 14, but their age was bumped up by two years to make the work more saleable. I found it interesting that Dave said there were a multitude of YA fantasy books for girls, but not so many for boys.

The group enjoyed the mechanics of the white magic / black magic system and other world-building details like the dangers in gazing into he future. The secondary characters, particularly the ageless boy, Jelal, were generally more interesting than the hero, Pran Gilamond. Karen and Phil gave it thumbs up, Jeni, thumbs down, with Liz in the middle.

HELLHOLE
While there were some nice touches like the use of crossword puzzle clues as chapter titles, cool bits about cats, and nice supporting characters, we didn't care at all about the two male leads, uber-nerdy Max Kilgore or slacker-devil Burgundy "Burg" Cluttermuck.

THE TITAN'S CURSE
The plot of the series is a conspiracy to resurrect Kronos, chief god of the evil Titans, who had ruled the world before being overthrown by Zues and the Olympian gods. Percy and his teen friends are half-bloods, offspring of liaisons between the Olympians and mortals (Percy's father is Poseidon).

The group felt that this was the weakest book in the series, with Liz and Jeni being disinterested in continuing to follow the adventures. Phil was less disenchanted (and thought that Percy's friend Annabeth's mortal father, Dr Chase, was a real hoot) and will finish the series outside the group. (He has completed book four and feels that it is a better work.)

GREGOR & THE MARKS OF SECRET
The tone of the books has grown darker as the series progressed, particularly in the last two books. Gregor joins a scouting party from the underground city of Regalia to discover the whereabouts of friendly tribes of nibblers (large intelligent mice) who have gone missing. They learn that the nibblers are systematically being slaughtered by the gnawers (intelligent rats) who have united under the prophesied leadership of the giant albino rat, the Bane, as part of a Final Solution to dealing with their problems. The work ends in a cliffhanger, with Gregor and friends warning the city of an approaching rat army.

ALLEGIANT
Liz ("mediocre") and Jeni ("just okay") were unimpressed with the work, rating it 3 out of 5 stars. Liz was critical of the science and genetics and felt the book was too much a teen romance. Karen and Phil liked it better. Karen liked the flow and pacing, likening it to bouncing on a trampoline. Phil enjoyed the moral and family ambiguities (Four's relationship with his parents, plus situations like "so we have the moral high ground because we're going to gas them before they gas us?").

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2015 Philip J De Parto.


THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, Chaos 1
The book was a major disappointment after the author's brilliant, A MONSTER CALLS, possibly the best book I read a couple of years ago. Knife won several awards and was nominated for others, although I have no idea why. Karen and Jeni gave up on the book and skipped the discussion.

This is the first in the author's Chaos Walking trilogy, set on a world settled by a fundamentalist sect. The primitive indigenous alien race has pretty much wiped out, with scattered groups here and there, but not before they unleashed a biological weapon.

At this point we get to one of the two cool ideas in the book. The virus renders the infected (almost every male) telepathic. They cannot consciously project thoughts, but they receive everyone's mind "Noise," which warps their psyches. Many are functional psychopaths. The other cool point is that this is a morality tale. Protagonist Todd Hewitt is a hero not because he does heroic things, but precisely because he refuses to do heroic things and become a hater and a killer.

Unfortunately, the book is weak in too many areas to allow these virtues to soar. The villains are all loathsome. Preacher Aaron is tougher to kill than Rasputin, the Terminator, and the Energizer Bunny put together. Good people flock to the banner of evil for no sensible reason. We will not read the next book in the series.

MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN
To elevator-pitch the book: it's X-Men meet GROUNDHOG DAY. A group of super-powered children and teens escape their enemies by entering a time loop created by their guardian, Miss Peregrine. YA hero Jacob Portman discovers that he has a special gift when his grandfather is murdered. Guided by a group of odd black-and-white photographs (reproduced in the book, in fact, they're its inspiration), Jacob travels to the Welsh island of Cairhelm and joins the peculiar young ones.

Jeni and Liz said that they were unable to care about the characters and that the unchanging youths were disturbing. Phli and Pam enjoyed the book more, particularly the scenes where Jacob and Emma are hiding in the sheep shed from the hollowgast, Maltus, and when the wight, Golan, reveals how he has assumed a number of identities over the years in the hope of using Jacob to lead him to his prey.

I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT, Tiffany Aching 4
Tiffany remains a winning creation, but the group missed the madcap insanity the Wee Free Men presented when they were first introduced. Phil enjoyed the complexity of Tiffany's opponents. While some of them are just out-and-out evil like the Cunning Man, most are simply damaged, insecure or misguided folks like Leticia and Duchess Keepsake.

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH
This was a fun, loud, rambunctious gathering. The group brought a wide range of perspectives to the discussion. Jeni had met the author when she was a child as Juster was an acquaintance of the family. Phil had read the annotated volume. Michele had not read it since childhood. Karen had read the book many, many times as a child. We discussed the circumstances of the author (He was Jewish and suffered discrimination. He also had the condition of synesthesia.), the mixed reception received by the book, and its relation to other works of children's fantasy literature. There were long digressions on its puns, wordplay and vocabulary., It was one of the best discussions by the group.

CINDER, Lunar Chronicles 1
The work is the first in the author's Lunar Chronicles, as series of YA science fiction novels which reimagine classic faerie tales. Heroine of the book is Cinder Linh, a cyborg whose flesh-to-metal ratio categorizes her as Not Human and therefore the property of her stepmother. Cinder is a crackerjack backyard mechanic who is contacted when Prince Kai, who needs a droid with classified information repaired without anyone being the wiser.

The author blends elements of the traditional tale (the enchanted pumpkin carriage becomes a refurbished orange-colored automobile) with new devices like warlike Lunars with psychic powers to create something new and entertaining

GREGOR & CURSE OF THE WARMBLOODS, Gregor 3
Many in the group felt the book was not as fresh as the earlier volumes, although three new races were introduced: the Ants, the Lizards and the Mice. We were a bit disappointed to have Gregor's mother, Grace, journey with him and Boots to the Underland, only to have her sick and hospitalized through virtually the entire work.

Favorite scenes in the book included the meeting between Gregor's sister, Boots, and the giant lizard, Frill; Gregor grooming the rat Lapblood; the attack of the poisonous frogs; and Gregor's decision to confide about the Underworld to Mrs Cormaci. Jeni pointed out the naming conventions of the different animal races. Karen noted the undercurrent of biological warfare and the scapegoating of the scientist, Doctor Neveeve.

INSURGENT, Divergent 2
Everyone but Jeni--who talked about the themes of betrayal, guilt and identity--felt that this was a weaker book than DIVERGENT. Karen was dismayed at the finale: "It just ends! What!" Liz observed: "It's Sci-fi! It's a political treatise! It's a high school romance!" Phil felt the world-building was stronger in the first book and that the customs of the Abnegation and Dauntless sects (book one) were a lot more interesting than those of Candor, Erudite and Amity (book two). Jeni has read the third book and promises a number of fascinating revelations are in store.

FOX FOREVER, Fox 2
Locke Jenkins is the point-of-view character. A downloaded consciousness downloaded into an artificial body in the previous book, Locke is an illegal person by the fact of his very existence. The Resistance had set him up with a new identity in the second book in the series and are now calling in a Favor. They need Locke to infiltrate high society, win the trust of Raine Branson, daughter of the Secretary of Security, and discover the location of a captured Resistance leader. The book is essentially a caper novel.

Phil enjoyed the book. Liz thought it was okay. Karen and Jeni did not care for it. Everyone agreed that Raine was an interesting character, that the subterranean half-men were suitably creepy, and the retelling of the tale of Dot, the heroic robot from book two who died saving Locke. Phil liked the opening and closing pieces of the book which were philosophic and introspective while Jeni and Karen felt they were boring and slowed things down.

SEA OF MONSTERS, Percy Jackson 2
Percy is an adolescent demi-god, son of mighty Poseidon and a mortal woman. His quest in this book is to retrieve the Golden Fleece which is needed for its magical healing properties. Assisted by some fellow demi-gods, he succeeds, but the result is not what he expected.

The author throws in some clever touches, like making the Bermuda Triangle the entranceway to the Sea of Monsters. I also enjoyed how some of the less likeable characters from the first book were humanized. Ares' daughter, Clarisse, for example, is still a short-tempered bully, but she is also brave and determined. The book was a pleasant-enough read, and we will continue to follow Percy's adventures.

MOCKINGJAY, Katniss 3
The book continues the revolt of the Districts, led by the supposedly bombed-out-of-existence District 13, against the Capitol. Katniss Everdden has become a symbol of the insurrection and is featured in propaganda films broadcast to District and Capitol alike. But as the conflict escalates, she begins to question the motives of some of the rebels.

Highlights of the book include Katniss' return to her demolished homeland, District 12, the brainstorming session about Katniss' most inspiring moments, and the assault on the Capitol. Phil particularly enjoyed the scenes with the Everdeen cat, Buttercup. Recommended.

THE GIVER, Giver
Although the book won the Newberry Award, the group--with the exception of Liz--had lots of problems with the work. The writing and characterization were okay, but the book had plot holes you could pilot an aircraft carrier through. The rules of the world felt very arbitrary--they simply existed because the author needed things that way to further the plot. Gregor complained: "They can't see colors? What did they do, remove the rods and cones from their eyes?" Phil felt the ending was dishonest, promising one conclusion but delivering another

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2014 Philip J De Parto.


GREGOR & PROPHECY OF BANE, Gregor 2
The Young Fantasy Reds Book Group met on Thursday, November 20, 2014 at Barnes & Noble in Paramus, New Jersey to discuss GREGOR & THE PROPHECY OF BANE by Suzanne Collins. This is the second work in the author's Underland Chronicles. The evening began with S F A B Cers Karen Chan and Jeni Spiewak meeting regular Audrey Longson for dinner at the Suburban Diner. They later joined Association members Philip De Parto and Pamela Webber along the second floor windows near the escalator as another book group was at our usual spot.

Everyone enjoyed the book, and most felt it was a stronger work than the opening volume in the series. Karen and Jeni liked the pacing and flow. Audrey and Phil enjoyed the characterization, particularly of Gregor's two-year-old sister, Boots. The ladies felt that this book was darker than the first, something not apparent to Phil, who was also a minority of one in liking Princess Nerissa. We will read the third in the series sometime in 2015.

DIVERGENT, Divergent 1
Everyone enjoyed this near-future post-apocalyptic novel set in Chicago. Society has been reorganized into five factions based on personal philosophy profiles including Abnegation (self-sacrifice), Dauntless (risk-taking) and Erudite (intellectual). The factions have some aspects of the Houses of Harry Potter and others of a caste system.

There are two plot threads to the novel. The first is Beatrice Prior's Rite of Passage from the Abnegation household where she grew up to the Dauntless community which she has chosen (though she is actually Divergent--someone whose profile would allow them to function with equal ease in multiple Factions). The other is an Erudite conspiracy to manipulate the Dauntless against the Abnegation.

There are a number of really nice slice-of-life touches to the author's world like how the Factions dress and behave (Candor's colors are black and white, as that is how they see things, while Abnegation dresses in simple grey robes). The characterization of the teens and the family of Triss nee Beatrice is nicely handled. Where the book suffers is in the rigor of its world-building. The numbers simply don't add up once you start thinking about how many people would be needed to populate the Chicago she has constructed. This is a common problem faced by many YA writers who work in the field without a background of science fiction. They do not consider the secondary ramifications of their authorial choices. Very little in the book needed to have been changed to make the society a whole lot more logical, but this is a matter of small concern in its genre. Still, it was an exciting read and we will do the sequel at a later date

WINTERSMITH, Tiffany Aching 3
Tiffany, now 13, attracts the notice of Wintersmith, the elemental responsible for winter on Discworld. The simple-minded but powerful creature tries to woo her by having every snowflake bear her image, creating huge icebergs in her likeness, and fashioning itself a humanoid body in accordance with the instructions of a nursery rhyme. A second plotline concerns rivalry between Tiffany, fellow witch-in-training Annagramma, and their respective patrons. As always, the Nac Mac Feegle are present to provide Stoogesque comic relief.

Tiffany Aching is a marvelous character. Never loud or flashy, she is as deep as the ocean and as solid as the chalk headlands she calls her home. Secondary characters like Annagramma grow as the series progresses. For all her snobbery and smugness, when she sees Tiffany in real trouble, she is not afraid to challenge the Wintersmith on her own. The Wee Free Men are a comedic masterpiece. They utter prophecies of "a plague of chickens and a cheese that walks like a man," terrorize the Ferryman of the Styx by threatening to stay in the land of the dead, and procure bad romance novels to help Tiffany understand boys. But for all the belly laughs and fantastic adventures, the real treasure is Tiffany's observations about right and wrong and what is really of value in the world.

STARMAN JONES
One of the drawbacks of being without having some teens in the group (we'd love to have them, but they haven't ventured forth) is that we cannot judge how the younger set would see things. The absence of computers and the internet stands out on the technology front, but would they still be able to relate to the characters? Leading lady Eldreth Coburn is nobody's fool, but Audrey, the youngest of those present, found it difficult to wrap her head around a society lacking gender equality.

The book itself is the story of teenaged farm boy Max Jones' first journey into space. Lacking a future on Earth, he is fortunate enough to fall into the company of Wise Old Conman Sam Anderson, who gets them jobs as crew aboard a spaceship with the aid of bribes and forged documents. Things go wrong, and both must make sacrifices and rise to the occasion. There are lots of typically neat Heinlein throw-aways, like city slidewalks and a crash course on the functioning of the interstellar drive.

PATHFINDER, Pathfinder 1
This is the first in a science fiction series set on the colony world of Garden, which has much the flavor of a fantasy world without having an actual magic. Teenaged fur trapper Rigg is the hero of the work. He is instructed to travel to the big city and find his sister upon the death of his foster father. Along the journey he makes friends and discovers that he is actually the long-missing prince of the realm who had disappeared as a baby. Now three political factions seek to kill or use him. Rigg also discovers that he, his sister, and his best friend all have mutant abilities which will expedite a plan set in motion when Garden was colonized 11,000 years earlier.

Karen, who chose to skip the gathering, found the action too slow. Liz though that the explanations of how the characters were able to bend time were confusing. Phil thought that the structure of the book, which alternates between the present and the colonizing journey to Garden, was awkward and discordant. No way we'll be reading the sequel.

SERAPHINA, Seraphina 1
Seraphina Dombegh, illicit daughter of a human and a shape-changed dragon, is the heroine of the work. She becomes involved in uncovering plots against both the human and dragon nations, uncovering the murderer of Prince Rufus, heir to the human throne, and various other matters, all the time desperately attempting to keep the truth of her parentage a secret.

Pam and Phil enjoyed the work, particularly the scenes dealing with Seraphina's musical work, the banished knights of dracomachia, and the crisp, characterization of a number of minor characters. Karen found the work too slow-paced and unsatisfying. Liz and Audrey found it okay, but not much more than that.

CITY OF BONES, Mortal Instruments 1
CITY is the story of New York teen Clary Fray, who discovers that everything she thought she knew about her life is a lie, and that supernatural creatures are trying to capture her because she is the daughter of the Dark Lord Valentine. There are demons and vampires and werewolves and other nasties who are opposed by the Shadowhunters, offspring of mortals who mated with angels thousands of years ago.

Phil was the sole defender of the work, enjoying both the snarky dialogue of Clary's Shadowhunter brother, Jace, and that she and her boyfriend, Simon, were not the typical beauty and hunk. The others found the characterization shallow, the plot derivative, and the pacing too slow. "At least," said Karen, "it was better than TWILIGHT."

THE FOX INHERITANCE, Fox 2
The Young Fantasy Reads Book Group met on Thursday, April 17, 2014 to discuss THE FOX INHERITANCE, the second book in Mary Pearson's Fox trilogy which began with THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX. The book focuses on Locke Jenkins and, to a lesser extent, Kara Manning, the best friends of Jenna Fox who were with her the night a car crash sent the trio to not-quite-death. It is 260 years since Jenna's brainscan had been downloaded into a new body. Now it is Locke and Kara's turn.

Philip De Parto liked the book best and Karen Chan, the least. Elizabeth Belisle and Jeni Spiewak were in the middle, with Liz having a more favorable opinion than Jeni. Taras Wolansky was also present, but he had not read the work. There were comparisons between the first two books of the series and to Robin Wassermann's SKINNED (aka FROZEN). There was considerable discussion about the political system of the two Americas, as well as the social and economic changes that had occurred (among other things, Old Faithful had a massive eruption which inflicted enormous economic and environmental damage on the USA). The group continued the evening at Matthews Diner when they were done talking about the book.

DAYS OF BLOOD & STARLIGHT, Bone 2
We all felt the work was not as strong as DAUGHTER. Besides the problems faced by all middle books in a trilogy (having to continue the situation set up in the first book and not complete it), the work struggled with two additional burdens. In order to advance the storyline, the author had to devote a lot of space to military operations, continually raising the level of savagery so that some of the combatants would get sick of it and start to clandestinely work for peace. The other difficulty is that Ms Taylor handles humans more surely than she handles non-humans. The book really comes alive on those infrequent occasions when Zuzuna and Mik are on the stage.

A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, Earthsea 1
Liz, Karen and Phil enjoyed the book, while Jeni was less impressed. Among her complaints were that Ged solved his problems too easily, that he suddenly developed abilities and knowledge when it was necessary to get out of trouble and that there was no set up for these solutions.

Karen and Phil liked the characterization of Vetch, Jasper and Orgion and the writing style. Liz thought that the device of shadows was nicely woven into the narrative and liked that the book--unlike a number we have read recently--had a real ending. Phil liked the world-building (holidays like Day of Sun Return, The Fallows, Long Dance, Moon's Night) and the maps. The foursome were joined at Matthews Diner afterwards by Pamela Webber, and Karen entertained all by recounting her various encounters with wildlife.

GREGOR, THE OVERLANDER, Gregor 1
GREGOR is a Middle Grade portal fantasy inspired by the notion of what would have happened had a contemporary Alice fallen into Wonderland from an urban tenement. Eleven-year-old Gregor and his sister, Boots, fall down a laundry chute and emerge in an underground world of intelligent, man-sized rats, bats, spiders and cockroaches. Gregor discovers that the humans of the Underland believe he is the warrior prophesized by the founder of the human community, a role he feels ill-equipped to handle. There is a quest, strange adventures and a betrayal before Gregor and his companions rescue the child's long-missing father and defeat the evil rat leader.

Everyone loved the character of Boots, with Jeni pointing out that the book would have been a lot darker without her. Karen appreciated the visual descriptions and Liz enjoyed the pacing. Everyone but Liz went to Matthews Diner after the event.

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2013 Philip J De Parto


UGLIES, Uglies 1
The group felt that, based on the vocabulary and plot simplification, this book was written for teens on the younger end of the YA spectrum. Comparisons were made to the classic TWILIGHT ZONE episode, "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You" and to BRAVE NEW WORLD (with prettiness substituting for soma). Jeni and Taras felt that there was a lot of repetition within the book and that it would have benefited by shortening it. Phil did not have this reaction. There was discussion of anorexia and invasive species both in our world and in that of the novel.

THE HOST, Host 1
The book has crossover appeal to both the YA and adult market and to both the romance and science fiction fan. Karen felt that the book was written much better than the Twilight series. Phil was surprised that he enjoyed it as much as he did, that this was the fastest 800+ page novel he could recall having read.

The book is told from the point of view of Wanderer (later Wanda), an extra-terrestrial centipede whose race has taken over the Earth by doing an Invasion-of-the-Body -Snatchers number. The creature got her name because unlike most members of her race who settle down on one world in one host body, she has spent time on all 8 occupied worlds/races.

THE SCORPIO RACES
The book is set on Thisby, a hardscrabble island in the North Atlantic. This is the only place in the world frequented by the capall uisce, a fierce amphibious equine more commonly known in folklore as a kelpie. The creatures can sometimes be semi-tamed, but it is a dangerous pursuit, rather like attempting to domesticate a tiger. The Scorpio Races are held along the shore every year in early November.

Phil, Jeni and Liz like the book. Taras and Karen were cool to it. Taras felt it would have made a good novel had 3/4 of the narrative been trimmed. Phil praised the description and characterization, reading a number of short passages to illustrate his points.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK
The book won the Hugo, Newberry and Carnegie Awards, the last two honors bestowed by the American and British library associations for best book for young people.

The book is the story of Nobody Owens, a lad raised in a graveyard by the spectral populace after his family were slain by a knife-wielding killer named Jack when Bod (Noboby) was a toddler. While the ghosts are confined to the graveyard, the grounds are a destination for a number of supernatural characters of good and ill intent.

The work is a series of adventures great and small: a trip through the ghoul gate; a ritual dance between living and dead; an encounter with a pair of bullies; always with a sinister figure of Jack (the Ripper?) lurking in the background, waiting for another shot at the one who got away. My favorite section was Bod's encounter with the ghost of the witch Elizabeth, which was the author's inspiration for writing the novel.

PODKAYNE OF MARS
Much of the discussion revolved around whether or not this was a sexist or a feminist work. Phil (and to a lesser extent, Taras) argued that it was a feminist book: not only is a capable woman the central character, but so is the competent villain. Expecting a teenaged girl from the boondocks to be any more assertive in some situations, argued Phil, would be unrealistic. Jeni and Liz were not buying it. They felt the gender role expectations made the book dated at best and often a cause to cringe. Everyone agreed that Heinlein's original ending was better than the one his publisher caused him to tack on.

THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY
The first section of the books is set in Lowland County where "the cows outnumber the people by ninety-three to one." Piper McCloud was born with the ability to defy gravity, a power which causes her no-nonsense, down-to-earth, god-fearin' parents no end of embarrassment. They home school their child, keeping her away from contact with everyone else except the family doctor. The deception can only be kept up so long. Eventually the word gets out, newspapermen come to investigate, crowds gather round the homestead and the Department of Containment, Security and First Contact arrives on the scene to take her away from the gawkers and place her in a school with other children with special abilities.

The second section of the book, Piper's interaction with the other children, was my favorite part of the book. I thought the relationships between the special kids were very well handled and reminiscent of the Harry Potter books. Unfortunately, books of this sort need a villain, and the villain is Doctor Letitia Hellion. Although she pretends to have the welfare of the children at heart, she is actually trying to destroy them, or at least that part of them that makes them special. Soon the children are planning a break-out, but they are betrayed, captured and tortured. They again make plans, but with a different objective this time. Instead of trying to escape, they decide to take over running the operation.

While there are some nice set pieces like the heroic singing of the cricket, Sebastian, and the complicated schemes of super genius Conrad, but the book's greatest strength is the personalities of the children. Piper is a fine creation, she's not the smartest or the most powerful of the kids, but her strong moral compass makes her a memorable heroine.

IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS, Lioness 2
This is the second volume in The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce and follows the path of Alanna to become the first female knight of the realm in over 100 years.

This was one of the group's better discussions, with tangents into related areas of myth, faerie tales and allegory. Jeni and Phil agreed that the books was more tightly focused on Alanna than the first book, but had different takes on this. Jeni enjoyed the more straightforward storyline while Phil missed all the side interactions with the supporting cast. Barry felt the heroine was too perfect. Liz thought that the work would be enjoyed by both teen girls and boys and that it presented a role-model for girls that was for less common when it was written than it is in a post-Buffy world.

A HAT FULL OF SKY, Tiffany Aching 2
The books are a mixture of adventure, philosophy and slapstick, with the slapstick provided by the Nac Mac Geegle, the wee free men of the first book. Granny Weatherwax, the greatest witch in the world and the main character in WITCHES ABROAD and other tales of the discworld, plays an important role as well. But it is Tiffany herself who is the greatest delight of the book as she continues to learn about both magic and herself. Both this book and THE WEE FREE MEN are highly recommended.

THE GRIMM LEGACY, Grimm 1
The Young Fantasy Reads Group met at Barnes & Noble in Paramus on Thursday, March 21, 2013 to discuss THE GRIMM LEGACY by past guest speaker Polly Shulman LEGACY is set in the New York Circulating Materials Repository which has three secret collections: The Grimm Collection (magic items from faerie tales and elsewhere), The Wells Bequest (science fiction devices), and the Gibson Chrestomathy (computer / cyberpunk items). Geeky Elizabeth Rew is recommended for a position as a Page (a gofer) at the Repository by one of her teachers (and former Repository employee), Stan Mauskopf. Elizabeth and her fellow Pages Marc Merritt, Anjall Rao, and Aaron Rosendorn are advised to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious because magic items have gone missing and replaced with convincing forgeries. Then Dr Lee Rust, the head of the Repository, goes missing himself. Fearing this may be an inside job, the Pages, who do not truly trust each other, decide to solve the case themselves.

Everyone who read the book, including Jeni, who could not make the event, enjoyed the book. Karen REALLY liked it.

ENDER'S SHADOW, Shadow 1
Shadow relates mostly the same events as ENDER'S GAME, but is told from the viewpoint of Bean, Ender's second-in-command. The gimmick works because GAME is primarily a plot-driven novel and SHADOW is primarily character-driven. I'm not sure how someone who has not read GAME would react to SHADOW, but I think it would work. Definitely recommended for people who have read ENDER'S GAME.

CATCHING FIRE, Katniss 2
The author raises stakes considerably in this work. Katniss' unorthodox victory in the first volume is interpreted as a political statement by the repressed Districts. The Capital orders a new Hunger Games contest to assert their control over the Districts, but the dissident Underground works together to sabotage the Games and free several of the contestants, a televised act which incites a flat-out revolt in over half of the Districts.

There has been some criticism of Collins for ripping off the concept of the Manga, BATTLE ROYALE. I have not read / seen the work, but taken on its own merits, I remain impressed with the characterization, plotting and world building of the author and recommend the series.

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2012 Philip J De Parto

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE, Karou 1
The book is a Romeo-and-Juliet tale. Juliet in this case is 17 year old art student Karou who has been raisied by a race called the Chimaera. Romeo is a Seraphim named Akiva. Both have dark secrets in their past.

There's an awful lot to like in this book. The characterization of Karou and the level of writing were strong enough that Taras remarked that he would have enjoyed the story even if it were about art students in Prague with no fantasy element. We also liked the inventiveness of Brimstone's Toth Magic and the different sorts of wishes he could create. BONE is book one in a trilogy, and Liz and Jeni felt the conclusion left you hanging.

EVIL GENIUS, Cadel Piggot 1
While not as gonzo as the author's THE REFORMED VAMPIRES SUPPORT GROUP which we also read for this group, the book was a lot of fun and has a wonderfully twisted conceit: that all the evil geniuses you find in books are graduates of Axis University, whose syllabus includes courses like Basic Lying, Manipulation and Assassination (including Poisoning). Reluctant hero of the work is Cadel Piggott, son of imprisoned uber-mad scientist, Doctor Phineas Darkkon, who has been raised by his father's minions to carry on the family business (think: "What are we doing tonight, Brain? The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try and take over the world.")

Cadel is content to just be learning his trade when one of his instructors dies under mysterious circumstances. Then another member of the faculty is killed. Soon everyone at the school is trying to kill one another, in hiding, running for their lives, or all of the above. Well worth reading for someone looking for something different.

FABLEHAVEN, Fablehaven 1
The book is a contemporary Middle Grad fantasy about a pair of siblings, Kendra and Seth Sorenson, who are left at their grandparents Connecticut farm for a week while their parents take a cruise. The sibs soon learn that the farm and its environs are a long-established nature preserve / reservation for the supernatural creatures who once roamed the world. The pair are instrumental in thwarting the plan of an evil witch from breaking the bindings of an imprisoned demon.

There is a lot more meat to this book than on many MG works. While certain set pieces like the milking of the giant cow and theft of the ogre stew were fun set pieces, members liked the touches of philosophy, like the differing views of mortality possessed by naiads and humans. Thumbs up for this work.

ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENURE, Lioness 1
ALANNA is the first book in a series of four. It tells the story of an 11-year-old girl who switches places with her twin brother in order to become a knight. It is a boarding house novel and covers the youth's three years as a Page and culminates with Prince Jonathan discovering her secret and asking her to become his squire.

Phil was the strongest champion of the work. He particularly liked the aftermath of Alanna's settling the score with her tormenter, Ralon of Malvern. After she beats him up by suing street-fight secrets taught to her by a commoner, she throws up and worries that she is on the road to becoming a bully. He also liked the comradery of the Pages and Squires. He did agree with Barry that the final chapter in the ruined city was the weakest part of the book and felt like a hasty weld to have a victory against an evil, magical opponent. Margo was unimpressed with the book, attributing its lack of complexity to its age (40 years old).

THE WEE FREE MEN, Tiffany Aching 1
The book is the first in a series featuring young (11 years old in this book) witch Tiffany Aching. This series is set in the author's Discworld, and his three witches make an appearance at the end of the book. Tiffany is an engaging character. She possesses enormous magical talent but is untrained. More importantly, she has a strong moral compass and great common sense.

The humor of the work comes from the Nac MacGeegle, aka pictsies. These are mischievous, emotional, short tempered (and very strong and fast) little blue men who hate authority. When Tiffany persuades them to join her on her quest to rescue her little brother from the evil fairie queen, they break out into a hundred battle cries including "They can tak' oour lives but they canna tak' oour trousers!" "Ye'll tak' the high road an' I'll tak' yer wallet!"

One of the strong points of the work is Tiffany's relationship with her gruff, deceased grandmother who was a country witch. Granma Aching was a powerful witch, but one who rarely used magic. Most problems can better be solved through thought and observation than by magic, and one can never really be sure that the use of magic may tentail unanticipated consequences. I enjoyed this book better than most of the regular Discworld novels I have read.

A MONSTER CALLS
I HAVE COME TO GET YOU, CONOR O'MALLEY, the monster said, pushing against the house ... "So you have come to get me, ... I've seen worse ..." YOU REALLY AREN'T AFRAID, ARE YOU? "No," Conor said. "Not of you, anyway." The monster narrowed its eyes. YOU WILL BE, it said. BEFORE THE END.

I am so glad I read this book. The monster appears three more times to Conor, each time recounting a tale of ambiguous terror. In between, we see Conor's unhappy home and school life, and finally learn just what is frightening the lad. Read this book. Buy it or borrow it from the library. It's worth your time.

HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, Howl's 1
Low turnout aside, the book was a delight The writing was crisp, with knowing asides to works of classical and fantasy literature. The lead character was endearing; no kick-ass heroine here, rather a resourceful young lady who has been bespelled into an old lady. Her conversations with the fire demon, Calcifer, sparkled. We also enjoyed the inventiveness of the fate of falling stars and the family dynamic of Sophie's sisters. After the discussion, Pamela Webber joined the threesome at Matthews Diner.

FAIRY TALE DETECTIVES, Sister's Grimm 1
This is the first in The Fairy Tales Detectives Middle Grade series and recounts the adventures of Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, who are sent to live with their eccentric grandmother upon the disappearance of their parents. Grandma Grimm explains to the girls that they are the descendants of the Brothers Grimm and that the creatures of the Faerie Tales are quite real, although magically confined to the town of Ferryport Landing, New York and its adjacent woods.

BETWEEN PLANETS
The 1951 juvenile (the YA category came later) shrewdly anticipates some aspects of the future such as cell phones and internal security measures. Taras and I were floored by a discussion of the Multiverse Theory before the proposal of the concept as a scientific hypothesis. The hero was not particularly engaging, but does demonstrate some growth of the course of the novel. The plotting, however, is clumsy with certain events happening because the plot required they happen. Definitely not Heinlein's best YA, but interesting nonetheless.

JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE, J 1
Jessica Packwood is a 17 year old high school math geek living in rural Pennsylvania when tall, brooding, fashionably attired teenaged Romanian vampire Lucius Vladescu arrives in town and informs her that she is really vampire princess Anastasia Dragomir and that he is here to marry her to avoic a vampire war between their families.

The author plays around with a lot of the tropes of the YA market in amusing ways. Lucius' letters home about American cuisine and high school studies are a riot, Jessica's step parents are quirky but also very admirable, and even the good boy / bad boy choice is handled nicely. Recommended.

THE RISE OF RENEGADE X, Renegade 1
RISE is the story of Damien Lock, whose orderly life is thrown into chaos on his 16th birthday with the discovery that his never-spoken-of father is the goody-two-shoes superhero, The Crimson Flash. While most kids would be thrilled to learn that their father was a renowned superhero, Damien is mortified because he was raised by his loving, but otherwise totally amoral, supervillain mom, The Mistress of Mayhem. Damien had prepared himself for a life of crime and planned to enroll in Vilmore Academy like all the other supervillains-in-training.

Despite the cute premise, I wasn't sure there was enough meat on the bones of the book for a good discussion. Latricia convincingly argued that by reversing many of the expected gender roles, the author provided a lot of food for thought. All this talk of food made us hungry, so Liz, Phil and Taras went to Matthews Diner afterwards where we were joined by Pamela Webber.

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2011 Philip J De Parto:


THE FALLEN, Chloe King 1
THE FALLEN starts off as pretty standard YA fantasy fare, though instead of the teen protagonist being a witch or vampire or mutant, she is actually a members of a secret cat race from ancient Egypt. Chloe discovers her heritage when she falls to her dath on her 16th birthday and comes back from the dead, an ability certain members of the cat race enjoy. Soon thee are secret societies trying to kill or protect her and friends who just don't understand.

The average fan is not going to be terribly impressed with this work of teen fantasy chic lit, but the trilogy becomes a lot of fun in the second and third books where the author delves more deeply into the history and politics of the cat race. A number of situations, like the good bad-boy and the bad good-boy are turned inside out. The series concludes with the most unexpected, and common sense, solution to a problem wince Michael Kane's decision to have his people abandon their city instead of fighting an insane enemy in MASTERS OF THE PIT. Recommended, but read the combined volume, which is only $ 2.00 more than the standalone book.

PRETTY MONSTERS
There are ten stories in the collection and about half of them have been nominated and/or won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and World Fantasy Awards. No one liked the title story, feeling it was too clever by half, but everyone enjoyed some of the tales. I liked "The Wizards of Perfil" but loved "Magic for Beginners." This is a real hoot about a group of friends (and their parents) who are all fans of a pirate television series, which airs at no fixed time on no fixed station, called THE LIBRARY. "In one episode of THE LIBRARY, everybody was invisible. You couldn't see the actors: you could only see the books and the bookshelves ... Invisible people tripped over invisible dead bodies, but you didn't find out who died until the next episode. Several characters ... disappeared for good, and no one is sure if they are dead or not" (pgs 103 - 104). There were lots of other good parts, too.

GRACELING, Graceling 1
The work can be characterized as The X-Men in the Middle Ages. Random people are born with "graces"--abilities beyond those of ordinary mortals. Some have strategic importance like archery, lie detection and mind-reading. Heroine Katsa's grace is combat: she can take out a score of trained fighters without breaking a sweat. She is a bully-king's personal enforcer, but she is developing a conscience.

The book's virtues include good supporting characters, nice scenes aboard a ship, and a bold, disorienting jump in time at one point. The drawbacks are that the evil villain is dispatched too easily and that the male and female leads lack depth, they are just too perfect.

AIRBORN, Airborn 1
AIRBORN is set in a steampunkish world where zeppelins ply the skies with passengers and cargo. Our here is cabin boy Matt Cruse on the luxury liner, the Aurora. He befriends a passenger his own age: spunky, rich, strong-willed Kate de Vries, whose resourcefulness is a match for his own. They become the pivotal players on an eventful trip which includes pirate attacks, shipwrecks, fierce storms and the discovery of a dangerous new animal.

If you wish to shorthand the book, think TREASURE ISLAND crossed with TITANIC set aboard a steampunk zeppelin. Among the touches various of us enjoyed were the cloud cats, the sumptuous descriptions of the ship and food, and a number of supporting characters, especially Chef Vlad. The author invests pirate Vikram Szpirglas and assistant sail maker Bruce Lunardi with more complexity than most writers would.

GENERATION DEAD, Dead 1
GENERATION features a high school love triangle about a girl and two boys, one of whom is a zombie. These are not your George Romero zombies. They don’t want to eat you, they just want to be treated like everyone else. No one knows why a certain percentage of teens (no children, no one over about 20) just get up and start walking around, it simply happens. Oddly enough, the phenomenon is confined to America, leading to many conspiracy theories. There is a great deal of variation within the “biotically different.” Some move, talk, and seem to think real slow. Others can pass for normal with a bit of makeup.

Latricia reported that teenaged girls loved the book because of its high drama content. All of us enjoyed the scenes in the haunted house that is the headquarters for the local zombie contingent. We all thought the slogans on the tee shirts of the zombie supporters were clever. Phil enjoyed the names of the favorite bands and songs of main point of view goth girl Phoebe. The girls in this book-–both living and risen-–were more interesting than their male counterparts.

Latricia, who had recommended the title based on hearsay, had mixed feelings about the book. Liz, who had expected to dislike the work, thought it was okay. Phil found it a fun read.

ROVERANDUM
This was a short work by the author to console his son who had lost a toy dog while on holiday. Latricia enjoyed the forward about the writing of the book and the narrative voice. Barry liked the parallels to THE HOBBIT. Phil noted the playfulness of the language. After the discussion, the threesome discussed future selections for the group and chose seven new titles, bringing us well into 2012.

THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, Fox 1
Rich, parentally-adored teenaged Jenna Fox gets out of bed one morning with no memory of anything before she awakened. She is told by her parents that she had been in an accident and has been illegally downloaded into an artificial body. The rest of the book follows Jenna's quest of self-discovery and to reconcile what she is with who she was. It also examines the benefits and possible consequences of unsupervised genetic innovation.

There are interesting similarities and differences to Robin Wassermann's FROZEN (aka SKINNED). While I think that the Wassermann book is the better effort, JENNA is not far behind, and the work is recommended without hesitation.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF, Percy Jackson 1
This middle grade novel is the first in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and focuses on the adventures of a group of young Olympian demi-gods. Percy’s mother has kept him in the dark about the true nature of his absent father, but when monsters out of Greek mythology attack him at his school, he gets a crash course gods and monsters. Before long, he and his friends are on a quest to locate a stolen thunderbolt of Zeus before a war breaks out among the gods.

There are a number of parallels to the Harry Potter books. Phil is a Greek mythology junkie and he and Karen enjoyed the book. Liz and Taras were less impressed.

THE ROLLING STONES
The book is an episodic work in which the pioneering Stone family--point of view twins Castor and Pollux, father Roger, mother Edith, grandmother Hazel, sister Meade, and four-year-old Lowell--have a string of adventures on the moon, interplanetary space, Mars, and the asteroid belt. This is a Lake Woebegon family, whose members range from above average to exceptional. Cantankerous Hazel Stone is the most interesting character and the tribblesque flatcat incident were the most memorable aspects of the book.

ZOMBIES VS UNICORNS
The book evolved out of a discussion on the editor’s blogs about which creature was cooler for story telling purposes. A number of other authors weighed in and Black and Larbalestier decided to present an original anthology to settle the matter, with six stories championing each side of the debate.

The group consensus was that the best stories were “Princess Prettypants” (the hands-down winner) by Meg Cabot and “The Highest Justice” (which has both a unicorn and a zombie) by Garth Nix. The weakest of the lot were “Bougainville” by Carrie Ryan and “A Thousand Flowers” by Margo Lanagan. The book is striking as an art object with its unusual cover and sleeve, chapter markers and snarky editors’ introductions and comments, but it was only so-so as a collection of stories.

GIRL PARTS
Set in the near future, GIRL PARTS is the tale of two teenaged boys, spoiled rich David Sun and awkward, geeky Charlie Nuvola, a teenaged girl (Rebecca Lampwick) and the robot Companion, Rose, who has been assigned to instruct David in forming meaningful relationships with women but who instead winds up with Charlie.

The group felt the work was a mixed bag. Everyone could point out good bits, with Latricia citing the date-of-crossed-signals between Charlie and Rebecca as a scene which really worked well, but everyone had issues with other aspects. For example, Phil did not believe in Rebecca as a character.

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2010 Philip J De Parto:


IMPOSSIBLE
IMPOSSIBLE is based on the Simon and Garfunkle song, Scarborough Fair, which was in turn based on a series of medieval ballads. The Werlin novel concerns the Scarborough family cursed by a haughty elf knight who had been spurned centuries ago by an ancestor. The curse will not be broken until a first born daughter solves the riddle and performs three impossible tasks.

Latricia examined the work within the context of contemporary YA relationship literature. Phil focused on the work as a sfnal problem solving puzzle.

CORALINE
The discussion included the book itself, as well as the graphic novel and movie adaptations.

GO, MUTANTS!
Larry Doyle's previous book was the bestseller, I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER. While there are many clever touches to his current work, the group felt GO, MUTANTS! was unlikely to repeat Cooper's success.

Mutants! is set on a mash up parallel Earth where the sci-fi movies of the 50s and 60s were actually documentaries. There were alien invasions, giant monsters, mad scientists and other shocks to the American way of life. There are a number of other differences as well. The Giants never beat the Dodgers because the Shot Heard Round the World was really a blast from a flying saucer which vaporized Ralph Branca's fly ball. Tom and Jerry never changed their name to Simon and Garfunkle, and their hits were a bit different.

The hero of GO, MUTANTS! is Jim Anderson, rebellious teenage offspring of Miw, a sultry female cat-woman who works at a xeno sex-club with the Devil-Girl from Mars, and the head of the alien invaders. Jim is in love with Marie Rand, whose father is a mad scientists and whose mother is The Brain That Wouldn't Die.

This is a book that baby boomer science fiction / rock and roll fans will get, but I'm not sure about anyone else.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND / THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
The discussion encompassed both the works themselves and their various movie adaptations.

KNIGHTLEY ACADEMY
The pair took turns reading reviews of the work from amazon.com. While many reviewers pointed out the similarities between the book and the Harry Potter novels, one reviewer detailed how both works were solidly within the longstanding genre of British Boarding School adventures.

One can shorthand the book as saying it's Harry Potter, but for knights instead of wizards. This is a fantasy world, but there is no magic--a pretty daring decision by the author. The bad guys, at least the English bad guys, have a reason for their villainy. The foreign baddies are mostly off stage in this opening volume of the series. The cadets' training in medical practices is a particularly nice touch.

THE REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPPORT GROUP
The work by Australian author Catherine Jinks was quite entertaining, and features the sorriest group of non glamourous vampires as you will ever encounter. We thank Taras Wolansky for recommending the work. Club members Philip De Parto and Latricia Markle also attended.

ENDER'S GAME
Karen and Barry were reading it for the first time while Phil and Taras had re-read it. We talked about the publishing history of the work, from its conception to the original magazine publication as a novelette, and to the sequels and related novels. We covered the plot, characters and the ideas of the work. Phil thought that the scene where a group of boys corner Ender in the shower was particularly effective.

THE HUNGER GAMES
The group discussed HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins, a YA dystopic Survivor-meets-American Idol. Phil and Latricia co-moderate the event and each had their own approach to the work, with Phil focusing on plot and world-building and Latricia concentrating on the book's appeal to young readers. After the discussion, everyone except an early departing Pam went to the Tom Sawyer Diner.

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2016:

GREGOR & THE CODE OF CLAW, Gregor 5.............Suzanne Collins.................11/17/16
THE TOMBS OF ATUAN, Earthsea 2........................Ursula K Le Guin...............10/20/16
SHADOW SCALE, Seraphina 2..................................Rachel Hartman................09/15/16
DOVE ARISING, Dove 1..............................................Karen Bao..........................08/08/16
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, Dragon 1.............Cressida Cowell.................07/21/16
I AM NUMBER FOUR, Four 1....................................Pitticus Lore......................06/16/16
MAGIC TEACHER'S SON, Magic 1............................David Harten Wilson........05/19/16
HELLHOLE..................................................................Gena Damico.....................04/21/16
THE TITAN'S CURSE, Percy 3..................................Rick Riordan......................03/17/16
GREGOR & MARKS OF SECRET, Gregor 4..............Suzanne Collins.................02/18/16
ALLEGIANT, Divergent 3..........................................Veronica Roth....................01/21/16

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2015:


THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, Chaos 1........................Patrick Ness..............11/19/15
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN........Ransom Riggs...........10/15/15
I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT, Tiffany Aching 4........................Terry Pratchett.........09/17/15
THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH...................................................Norton Juster............08/20/15
CINDER, Lunar Chronicles 1.....................................................Marissa Meyer..........07/16/15
GREGOR & CURSE OF THE WARMBLOODS, Gregor 3............Suzanne Collins........06/18/15
INSURGENT, Divergent 2..........................................................Veronica Roth...........05/21/15
FOX FOREVER, Fox 2..................................................................Mary Pearson...........04/16/15
SEA OF MONSTERS, Percy Jackson 2.......................................Rick Riordan..............03/19/15
MOCKINGJAY, Katniss 3............................................................Suzanne Collins.........02/19/15
THE GIVER, Giver 1....................................................................Lois Lowry.................01/15/15

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2014:


GREGOR & PROPHECY OF BANE, Gregor 2.............Suzanne Collins.............11/20/14
DIVERGENT, Divergent 1...........................................Veronica Roth................10/16/14
WINTERSMITH, Tiffany Aching 3............................Terry Pratchett..............09/18/14
STARMAN JONES........................................................Robert Heinlein.............08/21/14
PATHFINDER, Pathfinder 1.......................................Orson Scott Card............07/17/14
SERAPHINA, Seraphina 1...........................................Rachel Hartman............06/19/14
CITY OF BONES, Mortal Instruments 1.....................Cassandra Clare.............05/15/14
THE FOX INHERITANCE, Fox 2..................................Mary Pearson................04/17/14
DAYS OF BLOOD & STARLIGHT, Bone 2....................Laini Taylor....................03/20/14
A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, Earthsea 1........................Ursula Le Guin..............02/20/14
GREGOR, THE OVERLANDER, Gregor 1.....................Suzanne Collins..............01/16/14

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2013:

UGLIES, Uglies 1........................................................Scott Westerfeld...............11/21/13
THE HOST, Host 1.....................................................Stephenie Meyers.............10/17/13
THE SCORPIO RACES.................................................Maggie Stiefvator............09/19/13
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK............................................Neil Gaiman.....................08/15/13
PODKAYNE OF MARS................................................Robert Heinlein................07/18/13
THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY.....................................Victoria Forester...............06/20/13
IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS, Lioness 2..........Tamora Pierce...................05/16/13
A HAT FULL OF SKY, Tiffany Aching 2....................Terry Pratchett.................04/18/13
THE GRIMM LEGACY, Grimm 1................................Polly Shulman..................03/21/13
ENDER'S SHADOW, Shadow 1...................................Orson Scott Card...............02/21/13
CATCHING FIRE, Katniss 2........................................Suzanne Collins................01/17/13

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2012:

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE, Karou 1..................Laini Taylor......................11/15/12
EVIL GENIUS, Cadel Piggot 1.....................................Catherine Jinks................10/18/12
FABLEHAVEN, Fablehaven 1......................................Brandon Mull...................09/20/12
ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENURE, Lioness 1............Tamora Pierce...................08/16/12
THE WEE FREE MEN, Tiffany Aching 1....................Terry Pratchett.................07/19/12
A MONSTER CALLS.....................................................Patrick Ness.....................06/21/12
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE, Howl's 1.........................Diana Wynne Jones...........05/17/12
FAIRY TALE DETECTIVES, Sister's Grimm 1............Michael Buckley...............04/19/12
BETWEEN PLANETS....................................................Robert Heinlein..............03/15/12
JESSICA'S GUIDE TO DATING DARK SIDE, J 1..........Beth Fantaskey................02/16/12
THE RISE OF RENEGADE X, Renegade 1....................Chelsea Campbell............01/19/12

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2011:


THE FALLEN, Chloe King 1.................................Celia Thomson.................11/17/11
PRETTY MONSTERS............................................Kelly Link..........................10/20/11
GRACELING, Graceling 1.....................................Kristin Cashore.................09/15/11
AIRBORN, Airborn 1.............................................Keith Oppel.......................08/18/11
GENERATION DEAD, Dead 1...............................Daniel Walters..................07/21/11
ROVERANDUM.....................................................J R R Tolkien.....................06/16/11
THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, Fox 1...........Mary Pearson....................05/19/11
THE LIGHTNING THIEF, Percy Jackson 1........Rick Rioran........................04/21/11
THE ROLLING STONES.......................................Robert Heinlein................03/17/11
ZOMBIES VS UNICORNS.....................................Black / Larbalestier..........02/17/11
GIRL PARTS..........................................................John Cusick.......................01/20/11

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2010:

IMPOSSIBLE, Impossible 1...............................Nancy Werlin.....................11/18/10
CORALINE..........................................................Neil Gaiman.......................10/21/10
GO, MUTANTS!..................................................Larry Doyle........................09/16/10
ALICE IN WONDERLAND..................................Lewis Carroll.....................08/19/10
KNIGHTLEY ACADEMY, K A 1...........................Violet Habedasher............07/15/10
REFORMED VAMPIRE SUPPORT GROUP.........Catherine Jinks.................06/17/10
ENDER'S GAME, Ender 1...................................Orson Scott Card...............05/20/10
THE HUNGER GAMES, Katniss 1......................Suzanne Collins................04/15/10