Frogkisser by Garth Nix

Princess Anya prefers to  spend her time in the castle library while her older sister, the crown princess, entertains suitors.  When an evil wizard turns her sister's latest prince into a frog, Anya volunteers to find a way to change him back into a human.  She sets out on a quest to find the ingredients for a magic lip balm that will allow her to kiss the green fellow and turn him back into a human even if she is not in love with him. On the way she is joined by friends and allies, and begins to understand that her real quest is much bigger than a well placed smackaroo.

This started out like any middle grade fantasy, but it just got funner and funnier with each chapter.  The amazing thing is that as it got sillier, it also, in a way, got more serious.  Leave it to Garth Nix to make even a frothy middle grade fantasy have a little philosophical punch to it.  Nix's character development is wonderful, as the reader watches Anya slowly accept her own role as a true leader.  This was a good one that fans of Jessica Day George or Gale Carson Levine would enjoy. (385 p. 2017)

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

When Crow was an infant, she washed up on the shore of one of the Elizabethan Islands in Massachusetts in a small boat.  She is adopted by kindly hermit, Osh, and raised by him and a neighbor woman, Maggie.  When Crow is twelve, some things happen that make her wonder about where she was born and why she was abandoned.  Even though her curiosity is painful to Osh, he reluctantly helps her in her search for her origins.  Their investigation leads to a nearby island that used to hold a leper colony.

This is written by the same woman who wrote, Wolf Hollow, which I hated.  This one, however, is not nearly as bitter.  Wolk certainly has a way with words, and this book is worth reading just for the wordcraft.  I imagine this book will be on everyone's "Potential Newbery" lists, but I am not sure what child I would give it to.  I think I will mostly recommend it to adults who like to read well written children's literature.  (283 p. 2017) (for some reason I can't get the picture to move where I want it, sorry)

Mark of the Thief by Jennifer Nielson

Jennifer Nielsen visited the library last week so I took the opportunity to read one of her books I hadn't read yet.  In this story Nic is a slave in a jewel mine outside of Rome during the reign of Tiberius.  A powerful senator visits the mine a forces Nic to go into a newly discovered cave that is reported to hold Caesar's treasure.  While there Nick retrieves a magic amulet that used to belong to Caesar, and then escapes with the help of a Griffin.  For the rest of the book Nic and the griffin are on the run from greedy senators who want the amulet for its magical powers, while Nic, with the help of a new friend, Aurelia, tries to rescue his beloved sister who has fallen into the clutches of the bad guy.

It was fun to read a story written in an unusual setting.  It is amazing to me that more books are not set in ancient Rome.  Nielsen does a pretty good job describing the gladiatorial games and animal hunt entertainments that were a staple of late Roman decadence.  The story is fast paced and entertaining, and Nic and Aurelia are likable characters.  I did have to smile a bit that Nic's power with the amulet seemed to be conveniently just as big as his circumstances needed at the moment.  Sometimes he has colossal cosmic power and at other times he can't manage the littlest magical task.  Still, it was a fun read and I will probably recommend it to kids who like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. (2015, 339 p.)

The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts by Avi

Oliver lives with his older sister Charity and a neglectful father, in 1700's England.  Charity leaves for London to seek a better life and future, leaving Oliver in the dubious care of his father. One day Oliver's father leaves for London without explanation and severe weather destroys Oliver's home.  Oliver is taken to a Dickensian orphanage, from which he escapes, only to fall in with some thieves.  Oliver, Charity and their father are swept away by the force of fate and the corruption of London to progressively more dire situations. 

I read this book because it received several starred reviews.  I must say I wasn't thrilled.  It had the same problem almost all of Avi's books have.  It fumbles on the finish line.  Once again Avi didn't manage to create a satisfying ending. (heavy sigh).  The book does open one's eyes to the depravity of Victorian England.  I think people who liked "A Series of Unfortunate Events" might like it.  To me it is nowhere near the quality of writing of some of the others I have read lately, like Clayton Byrde and Beyond the Bright Sea. (304 p. 2017)

(I just realized I haven't blogged "Beyond the Bright Sea yet. I will get to that soon.)

The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Two daughters of an enslaved Bamarre couple are taken by the wife of Lakti ruler.  The youngest, still a baby, is raised as the woman's daughter while the other acts as her handmaiden.  The youngest, Peregrine, is trained to be a warrior and is her Lakti father's pride and joy.  When she discovers that she was born as a Bamarre, and with promptings by a good fairy, she starts on a quest to free her oppressed people.

This is an interesting mix of the stories of Moses and Rapunzel.  It is classic Levine, with a strong female lead who can kill griffins with the best of them.  There isn't a lot of connection to the earlier book, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, except the setting and the presence of two magical artifacts in both stories.  This is technically a prequel, but you can read the books in any order(2017, 385 p.)

Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World by Adam Grant

Adam Grant is a social scientist who has studied people who are famous for being original innovators and summarizes his finding in this fairly interesting and readable offering.  Grant supports his main observations with both case studies and research results.  I was impressed with how often he referred to different studies.  He seems to have done a fairly extensive survey of the research in this area.  His examples about well known companies and individuals make the book engaging.

I thought he had some fascinating observations, but sometimes I wondered about his I conclusions.  I think he was too quick to apply principles shown in a small study in much larger applications.  For example, they might have a group of people in a study and they told one group to think of one thought for a few minutes before they did a task, and another group thought another thing for 2 minutes before they did a task and then they would conclude, "group one generated 16 percent more original ideas than the other group."  So question one is, "how to you rate how original an idea is?" Question two is, "how could this possibly relate to what happens in a real corporate setting?"

Beside that objection, I found the book quite interesting and stimulating.  Some of the ideas dovetailed nicely with principles from both Smart Trust, and another book I am reading with my husband called, Awakening Joy. I think if I were the kind to read lots of self-help books, I would begin to trust ideas that seem to appear in many sources.  (322 p.)