A Curious Tale of the In-Between, by Lauren DeStefano

Pram has never truly been told the tale of her beginnings.  A beginning that started with her still inside her mother, even as she hung from the branch of the tree. Pram was orphaned right from the start, but was taken in by her two no-nonsense aunts. Pram is even short for Pragmatic -- named such because it was deemed sensible for a young lady, and sensible is just what the aunts wanted for Pram.

But Pram has always been the opposite of sensible.  She’s dreamy, and her oldest and best friend is a ghost named Felix who appeared one day in the pond by the home for the aged where she lives with her aunts.

Pram is forced by the state to actually attend school at the age of eleven and this is where Pram meets her first real life friend. She gets into an argument with Clarence before school even starts when he informs her that she is sitting in his desk. By lunch time they have discovered that both of their mothers are dead and with this the seeds of their friendship are planted.

As time goes on, Pram doesn’t tell Clarence that she can speak with ghosts, but she does agree to accompany him to a spiritualist show where he hopes his mother’s spirit will reveal herself. Things don’t go as Clarence hoped and instead the spiritualist is very interested in Pram. What Pram and Clarence cannot know is that the spiritualist is anything but a charlatan, and a girl like Pram is very valuable to her.

What follows is a haunting and frightening ghost story that straddles the world of the living and the dead. Lyrical and tender, DeStefano’s story will scare readers without tipping into horror. This is an achingly beautiful story of love and loss, of friendship and family. A Curious Tale of the In-Between is for the deep reader, and I can see it becoming that touchstone title that ferries readers into more complex and intricate stories.

Gorgeous.

Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat is a book that I have always meant to read. In fact, I was supposed to read it this summer since I had the arc of Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls in my hot little hands. Well, it didn't happen, so I took a leap of faith and jumped right in to the second installment.

Emmy's life is back to normal, and she is trying to distance herself from the rodents. Afterall, who is going to want to hang out with a girl who talks to rats? She knows that it is thanks to the rats that she is back home and away from her awful Nanny Miss Barmy who was only interested in making off with her parent's money. But, Emmy wants to do regular 10-year-old things...things like sleep-overs, parties, going to the park, and make new friends. So when Emmy and best friend Joe are invited to a reception in Rat City, she isn't as happy as she could be.

First of all, she has to get bitten by a rat to shrink down to fit in Rat City. And there is the nasty business of old Miss Barmy being a rat herself now. Unlike Emmy, however, she cannot change her form back to human. What if Emmy runs into Miss Barmy? What will happen?

Now, Emmy isn't the only girl who Miss Barmy took care of. There was Priscilla, Ana, Berit, Lisa, Lee and little Merry. In Miss Barmy's care, they disappeared and their parents mysteriously died. But where are the girls? Closer than you may think.

Before Emmy knows it, she is smack dab in the middle of a mystery and a rescue mission. Lynne Jonell has done the difficult deed of making a second book comfortable to dive into. While I feel like I probably do not know Emmy as well as I would if I had read the first installment, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Readers will feel Emmy's growing pains, and the scenery of Rat City is painted in rich detail. From friendship to nail-biting rescue missions, to a hilarious gopher named Gus, adventure loving kids will not only eat this title up, but will most likely take a second look the next time they see a squirrel in the park!

Rapunzel's Revenge

Rapunzel is tired of staying behind Mother Gothel's walls. Of course, there is enough to eat, some kind guards to play with, and a bit of exploring to do, but Rapunzel is still drawn to the wall. She thinks that if she can just look over it, she might make sense not only of her world, but of the strange dreams that she keeps having.

One day Rapunzel does get to the top of the wall and she can hardly believe what she sees. Beyond Mother Gothel's lush garden lies a virtual wasteland. Mines are dug out of the earth, and smoke stacks dot the horizon. Everything looks grey. Rapunzel also comes face to face with some of the workers from the mine camps. And one of them looks familiar...like the woman in Rapunzel's dreams. It is her birth mother. Before she knows it, the guards have pulled Rapunzel away from her mother once more.

When Rapunzel does not bow to Mother Gothel's wishes, and calls her a liar, Mother Gothel has her henchman Brute take her away into the forest where she is housed, not in a tower, but in a tree. Mother Gothel's growth magic allows Rapunzel food, but a side effect is that Rapunzel's nails and hair keep growing at an alarming rate. Each year, Mother Gothel returns to see if Rapunzel has repented, and every year Rapunzel refuses. Before long, Rapunzel finds a way to escape, and must navigate a land filled with desperation in order to find her birth mother and save her from the mines.

A quest to rival the best of them is penned by Shannon and Dean Hale. Sidekicks, villains, kidnappers, and giant sea serpents fill these brightly illustrated pages. This is a fun read, that will appeal equally to girls and boys. A fractured fairytale that goes deeper, Rapunzel's Revenge is a must for graphic novel readers.

The Case of the Missing Marquess

I was never an avid reader of mysteries when I was younger, but now I find myself drawn to them time and time again. The Case of the Missing Marquess is one of the best I have come across in a while!

Imagine your mother leaving you. On your birthday. With not so much as a goodbye. This is the situation that Enola is facing.

Enola's mother is not the typical Victorian mummy. She does not see why Enola should be corseted up, and thinks that she can do perfectly well without male companionship. She even named Enola because of this (Enola is alone backwards).

Once it is clear that Enola's mother is not to return, the girl summons her much older brothers for advice. Mycroft and Sherlock. Perhaps you have heard of one of them?

That's right. Enola's brother is none other than Sherlock Holmes. If he can't find Enola's mother, who can?

There are more mysteries within the story than just the missing Mrs. Holmes, but this is the story that crosses the entire book. (And into the next, I am sure). The beauty in this title is in the details. Chock full of feminist thought, class issues, as well as adventure, The Case of the Missing Marquess is an easy sell to mystery aficionados, but a likely crossover to those kids who like adventure as well. And maybe a small sized step to take before some Sherlock Holmes!