Three middle grade novels
Oct. 10th, 2022 03:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyTwo I read recently, and one I read a while ago and may have posted about then, but... I guess I never closed the tab to remind me to post about it so I don't know?
So, first up, the one I read actually months ago, Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling. Realistic fiction, compelling writing. The adults at the start of the book are hideously useless, even more than you'd expect in children's literature. I'm not exactly thrilled that the book ends with a paean to twelve step programs, but that's because I'm not thrilled that they get so much unquestioning space in our society instead of actual treatment by professionals. Then again, I'm also not thrilled that the alternative to twelve step programs is often imprisonment, so there's a lot going on there that has nothing to do with this book. Anyway, it's pretty solid.
Second is Hunters of the Lost City. This was recommended by a blogger whose recommendations and reviews I generally like, and I was just... meh. I was meh about it. There's nothing particularly wrong with it (except, one nitpick, where the hell are they getting nutmeg and cinnamon for their apple pies? am I wrong, do those things grow where it's snowy?) but I just... meh. Actually, no, now that I think about it, I can tell you what made me "meh" about it - the villains are insufficiently developed and also defeated too easily. I mean, the townsfolk probably don't think it was all that easy, but believe me, it was. Anyway, there is technically a f/f mutual tweenage crush at the end, but since that takes place in the epilogue it barely even counts. Those kids don't even realize that they have a crush on each other, although everybody else sure does.
Which brings us to The Mystwick School of Musicraft. Other than the appalling decision to write that last word "Musicraft" instead of "Music Craft", I really liked this! And I just picked it at random from the library ebook app, so there you go. Solid writing, decent characterization, and the plot resolves in a very tidy way. As always, it's easier for me to criticize things than compliment this, so don't take this short paragraph as an indictment of the writing.
So, first up, the one I read actually months ago, Across the Desert by Dusti Bowling. Realistic fiction, compelling writing. The adults at the start of the book are hideously useless, even more than you'd expect in children's literature. I'm not exactly thrilled that the book ends with a paean to twelve step programs, but that's because I'm not thrilled that they get so much unquestioning space in our society instead of actual treatment by professionals. Then again, I'm also not thrilled that the alternative to twelve step programs is often imprisonment, so there's a lot going on there that has nothing to do with this book. Anyway, it's pretty solid.
Second is Hunters of the Lost City. This was recommended by a blogger whose recommendations and reviews I generally like, and I was just... meh. I was meh about it. There's nothing particularly wrong with it (except, one nitpick, where the hell are they getting nutmeg and cinnamon for their apple pies? am I wrong, do those things grow where it's snowy?) but I just... meh. Actually, no, now that I think about it, I can tell you what made me "meh" about it - the villains are insufficiently developed and also defeated too easily. I mean, the townsfolk probably don't think it was all that easy, but believe me, it was. Anyway, there is technically a f/f mutual tweenage crush at the end, but since that takes place in the epilogue it barely even counts. Those kids don't even realize that they have a crush on each other, although everybody else sure does.
Which brings us to The Mystwick School of Musicraft. Other than the appalling decision to write that last word "Musicraft" instead of "Music Craft", I really liked this! And I just picked it at random from the library ebook app, so there you go. Solid writing, decent characterization, and the plot resolves in a very tidy way. As always, it's easier for me to criticize things than compliment this, so don't take this short paragraph as an indictment of the writing.
