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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 9, 2008 17:27:53 GMT -6
Does anyone know anything about the author, Mary Stewart? I've not read any of her works, but I loved the movie based on one of her books: The Moonspinners. I'm thinking of buying it and maybe even other books by her. Which books would you recommend as her best?
Also, what children's / juvenile / teen books do you feel is the best in their field/s?
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Children's / Juvenile / Teen Books I've read so far:
- The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
- The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
- Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
- The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw
- The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danziger
- There's a Bat in Bunk Five by Paula Danziger
- The Pistachio Prescription by Paula Danziger
- Lisa, Bright and Dark by John Neufeld
- I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg
- The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
- Jinx by Meg Cabot
- Airhead by Meg Cabot
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
- Time for Andrew by Mary Downing Hahn
- The Dead Man in Indian Creek by Mary Downing Hahn
- The Doll In The Garden by Mary Downing Hahn
- The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn
- Look for Me by Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn
- Beauty by Robin McKinley
- The Ghost Witch by Betty Ren Wright
- The House on Cherry Street: The Haunting by Rodman Philbrick & Lynn Harnett
- The House on Cherry Street: The Horror by Rodman Philbrick & Lynn Harnett
- The House on Cherry Street: The Final Nightmare by Rodman Philbrick & Lynn Harnett
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
- May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson
- May Bird Among the Stars by Jodi Lynn Anderson
- May Bird, Warrior Princess by Jodi Lynn Anderson
- Killing Britney by Sean Olin
- Twins by Caroline B. Cooney
- Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan
- The Blue Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer
- Uninvited by Amanda Marrone
- Uninvited by Justine Musk (Zoe Member)
- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
- New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
- Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
- Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Children's / Juvenile / Teen Books in my TBR pile:
- Ghost Ship by Dietlof Reiche
Of my WsIP:
One of my children's works deals with a ghost, so I've been reading other children's books that deal with hauntings/mysteries. Another of my children's works is a fairy tale, so I've also been reading books in that area as well. I really have no set genre in which I write, and that is why I also read books outside the fantasy and soft-horror genre. -- I do tend to lean toward scary though. I'm a big horror nut.
I'm not interested in book series, but if you liked a series, include it. Even if I'm not interested, someone else might be . . . or it will give them other suggestions to make to their kids.
Thanks for your suggestions and any other helpful contributions you include in this thread.
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BTW:
Use this thread as a children's version of the "What Are Ya Readin'?" thread.
What did you enjoy reading as a kid? What do you read to your kids? What do your kids read? What suggestions do you make to your kids to read? What does the kid in you enjoy reading even though you're grown up?
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Post by Phalon on Feb 11, 2008 22:48:11 GMT -6
I've never read any of Mary Stewart's children's books, but I have The Crystal Cave - book one of an Arthurian series. I haven't read the entire thing - the copy I got from the library after Scrappy recommended it was so musty smelling I couldn't finish; it played hell with my allergies. The Lovely Scrappy then sent me a copy, and unfortunately it just occurred to me after you mentioned "Mary Stewart" that I never finished it. Next on my reading list for sure - the part I did read was fantastic.
I love children's books. Lots, and lots of picture books, of course, because BP is in that crowd....and shoot, that's just an excuse. I'd browse them anyway, even if I didn't have kids.
Young adult books - I love those too. LX will often recommend something she's read. One I read about a year ago, that you might like also, Joxie, is "The Book of Dead Days" by Marcus Sedgwick.
"The days between Christmas and New Year's Eve are dead days, when spirits roam and magic shifts restlessly just beneath the surface of our lives. A lot can happen in the dead days. A magician called Valerian must save his own life within those few days, or pay the price for the pact he made with evil so many years ago. But alchemy and sorcery are no match for the demonic power pursuing him. Helping Valerian is his servant, Boy, a child with no name and no past, The quick-witted orphan girl Willow accompanies them as they dig in death fields at midnight are are swept into the sprawling blackness of a subterranean city on a journey from which there is no escape."
I'm not sure if it's a series; it ended leaving one feeling there may be another coming. I know there is a "companion" book titled "The Dark Flight Down."
One series that LX has absolutely loved, and has been trying to get me to read for some time is Lemony Snickett's "Series of Unfortunate Events". I adored the movie, which encompasses the first three books in the series, but I've never sat down to read the books. Put those on my list after "The Crystal Cave".
Scraps might tell you nothing beats the Harry Potter books - she's read them all, I understand. One day they might make my list of "have-to-reads".
And shoot - you said you weren't interested in a series, but everything I mentioned is part of one. Uhm, something not in a series...."Chasing Vermeer". I'm not sure what it's about; I haven't read it yet. LX recommended, and it's been sitting on the shelf next to the Crystal Cave, and has been there for just as long.
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 11, 2008 23:54:36 GMT -6
I asked this same question over on Katherine's forum, and got a reply that might be of interest to you:
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 12, 2008 0:07:20 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Mar 28, 2008 20:00:37 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Mar 29, 2008 20:55:04 GMT -6
Apparently, Mary Stewart only wrote 3 children's books, and the two I have are not among them: - The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart
- Moonspinners by Mary Stewart
I assumed Moonspinners was a children's book because in the movie the lead was played by a young Hayley Mills. The same character in the book is older and has a job. I've not yet read it, so I don't know her age in the book.
The children's books are: - The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart
- Ludo and the Star House by Mary Stewart
- A Walk in Wolf Wood by Mary Stewart
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 5, 2008 15:55:53 GMT -6
Nicola is 21, so I guess you could consider Moonspinners a young adult novel. 
I stayed up all night reading: Killing Britney by Sean Olin. It was an okay read. I'd give it a 5 perhaps. It did keep me guessing until the end as to who the killer was ... which is why I didn't put it down to go to bed. I did a google search of the author and found half the readers hated the book and half loved it, so pick it up at the library and if you feel you'd want to read it again, go out and buy it.
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Post by Mini Mia on May 23, 2008 17:54:31 GMT -6
Weird how I say I don't want to read/study book 'series' and I seem to be drawn to them all of a sudden. It seems every time I get interested in a book I discover it's a series. Perhaps 'someone' is trying to push me in that direction.  Maybe my 'muses in the manor (abyss)' are trying to tell me something.  
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Post by Phalon on May 30, 2008 5:45:59 GMT -6
Since you aren't reading series, <snicker>, here's one I've been reintroduced to, and have been meaning to mention..... the Junie B Jones series by Barbara Parks.
When I was Library Mom way back when LX was in elementary school these books were wildly popular, and now that BP is that age, she's been bringing them home too - their popularity hasn't waned any in the last six years. They are written for "middle-grade" readers, but appeal to the younger crowd too, and even I find myself laughing reading them. Junie B narrates her six-year-old thoughts using a six-year-old's vocabulary, grammar techniques, and Junie B-isms.
The reason I thought about you, Joxie, is that the books kind of remind me of your story, (and I'm sorry, I forgot the title), of the girl with the transistor radio.
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Post by Mini Mia on May 30, 2008 15:15:22 GMT -6
I think the "Junie B Jones" books were recommended by my teacher, along with Beverly Cleary's "Ramona" books, and the "Amelia Bedelia" books. I've read a couple of the "Ramona" & "Amelia Bedelia" books, but I don't think I've read any of the "Junie B Jones" books.
One of the main reasons I don't like series is, I either discover them when most of the older books are no longer in print, or I catch them when they're starting out and I forget to keep up with when the next book is coming out.
And the name of that story is "What Virginia Heard".
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 10, 2009 3:23:40 GMT -6
Okay ... what I've read for the 13 days I was without electricity:
Uninvited by Justine Musk
Uninvited by Amanda Marrone
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Look For Me By Moonlight, The Doll in the Garden, & The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn
There's a Bat in Bunk Five & The Pistachio Prescription by Paula Danziger
The Blue Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer
These, plus the adult books, make a total of 15 books read in the 13 days without power.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 3, 2011 19:04:58 GMT -6
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That one is more a fantasy than soft-horror.
I recommend it for family time reading. 