Here There Be Dragons

Here There Be Dragons
by James A. Owen

Here There Be Dragons is the tale of John, Jack, and Charles, three Oxford scholars and the beginning of their jobs as caretakers of the “Imaginarium Geographica,” an atlas to the Archipelago of Dreams, a land of myth and legend, of knights, of talking animals, and of evil kings. Thrown together after the murder of a mutual acquaintance, the three find themselves being chased by the murderers into the life of the last caretaker, who takes them to the Archipelago and tells them about the task that they have been given, caring for the atlas, and protecting the lands it represents from the evil “Winter King.”

I enjoyed following Joh, Jack, and Charles on their first journey. I was sucked into the twisting plot, and had a few laughs on the way. I recommend Here There Be Dragons to anyone who fell in love with Peter Pan, entered the Wardrobe, trekked across Middle Earth, or just loves a good swash buckler.

Taylor Anderson
Teen Reviewer

Zombie Book of the Month

Zombies Vs. Unicorns
edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

This collection of short stories attempts to answer the question: Which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? There’s really no question of course. Team zombie wins with stories like Alaya Dawn Johnson’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” in which a teenage boy infected with ZSE falls in love with a zombie hunter, and Scott Westerfeld’s “Inoculata,” which features four teenagers who find a way to live halfway between zombies and humans. Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, and Carrie Ryan also pitch in to secure the win.

While Team Unicorn was clearly outclassed, they did come through with some enjoyable stories. Meg Cabot’s “Princess Prettypants” even features a unicorn that actually farts rainbows! “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” by Diana Peterfreund was creepy enough to almost make me want my own baby killer unicorn. Kathleen Duey, Garth Nix, Margo Lanagan, and Naomi Novik also pitch in.

Four fingers up.

Book Review – American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese tells three interwoven stories. Jin Wang is a Chinese-American who moves with his parents from Chinatown in San Francisco to a predominantly white neighborhood where he struggles to fit in with his new classmates while dealing with hidden feelings for a fellow student, Amelia. The Monkey King, a character drawn from a Chinese fable, strives to transcend his station as a monkey through mastery of Kung Fu and achieve equal footing with the deities after being denied entry to a dinner party in heaven. Chin-Kee, the embodiment of negative Asian-American stereotypes, visits his cousin Danny who has spent the last several years trying to escape Chin-Kee and the embarrassment of his annual visits. As these three story lines intersect they reach an unexpected and powerful conclusion.
Luen Yang deals with issues of stereotyping and identity as his characters strive to gain acceptance within the dominant culture. At issue is what the characters sacrifice to gain the acceptance they seek. The moral of the book is encapsulated in a quote from a monk who seeks the imprisoned Monkey King as a disciple, “To find your true identity…that is the highest of all freedoms.”

Review submitted by David Otten

Zombie Book of the Month

The Forest of Hands and Teeth
by Carrie Ryan

It is countless years since The Return, that time when the dead rose up against the living. Mary has never known a world without the Unconsecrated beating at the fence that surrounds the village, hungry for living flesh. But she believes there is life beyond the Forest. She believes her mother’s tales of the ocean and buildings that touch the sky. None of that seems matter anymore when she is sent to the Sisterhood, doomed to a life of prayers and healing and maintaining the fragile peace of the village. That peace is shattered by the appearance of Gabrielle, an outsider, whose existence is kept secret until she turns, leading the Unconsecrated into the heart of the village and turning Mary’s life inside out. Will she have the strength to survive and follow her mother’s dreams?

Five Fingers Up!