Description: Aelfwyn has always considered herself drab and bookish next to her heroic mother, the Lady of Mercia, but she didn't mind too much. Then her mother dies suddenly and Wyn is thrown headfirst into the world of politics as her uncle, King Edward, struggles to retain control of Mercia after her mother's death and strangers begin asking for Wyn's support against him in a rebellion taking place to the north. When Edward tries to marry her to an old man as a reward for service, she runs away, cutting her hair and disguising herself as a young traveling musician/poet. It is in her disguise as the scop Wilfrid (meaning "far traveler") that she meets Wil, displaced king and leader of the rebellion, courting support in Mercia. Wil becomes Aelfwyn's friend, teaching her to become a better scop, never guessing that she is the very lady whose mysterious disappearance he is using as a reason for others to join him in fighting King Edward. When Wil is ready to move against the king, Wyn will play a major role in the fight's outcome.
Review: "Far Traveler" is very much a "what if" of history: Aelfwyn really did exist, and disappeared from all records after her mother's death. Tingle then took the events of the time and wove a story of what may have happened to the missing girl. Therefore the plot had to stick to historic possibilities and, in this case, that was a disadvantage to the book. The part that the writer was able to make up all on her own was good, but in the end, she couldn't make the hero win the day, because that's not how it actually turned out, and the fact that the book ends with a whimper rather than a bang made me, as a reader, feel very unsatisfied. Despite that, however, the middle section of the book is well-done and worth the read. Aelfwyn was a good character, though a little too passive. Wil was marvelous; I fell in love with him myself, though his and Wyn's romance didn't exactly make sense to me. "Far Traveler" could have been a medieval gem, but fell just short of greatness.
Description: Scrib ran away from home the day before his thirteenth birthday, and has since become a letter-writer with his own circuit. His circuit includes a lot of interesting characters including love-struck rancher Romulus, writing to his sweetheart; Paiute Indian Pierre, who writes angry letters to President Lincoln; and the infamous outlaw Crazy James Kincaid, who just wants to let his family know he's all right. When Scrib senses he's being followed, bad things start to happen. Someone, it would seem, doesn't want Scrib to write any more letters. He makes a disastrous attempt at leading a normal, stationary life, changing his name to Billy (short for William, his given name), before discovering that he'll always be Scrib.
Review: Advertised as a humorous look at the Wild West, "Scrib" fell far short of my expecations. I hardly laughed throughout the entire book. Scrib is a boring main character without much to say; the other characters at least have a little personality to them. Scrib's narrative is comprised of slang and on-purpose spelling and grammatical errors that drove me crazy, though are supposedly part of the charm of the book. The plot is decent, but Scrib was too boring for me to really get into it. I skimmed through the entire middle section of the book, and don't feel that I really missed anything exciting. Despite its shortcomings, however, "Scrib" may find a fanbase among younger teens and fans of YA westerns, though I wouldn't recommend it as humor.
Description: Eleven-year-old Roddy has nothing but hard work in the ropeworks to look forward to for the next five years, but when he meets a displaced king and his three daughters, things start looking up for Roddy. King Ivars has come to the new world looking for unusual things. "The land of ten thousand charms," he calls it. And strange things are certainly happening in the small town where they're living. The Parliament of Crows gathers to choose their new king, and Roddy is somehow able to understand this. King Ivars, sensing that Roddy is more special than he seems, takes him into his own home. When one of the princesses catches the eye of a royal monster, a curse is laid on the old king. Either she marries him, or her father dies. Roddy will have to use all his wits to rescue the beautiful princess from the evil monster.
Review: This book could have been really good...but it wasn't. It reads like a bad fairy tale, with wooden characters and a strange but simplistic plot. Parts of this book were interesting, but none of those parts were explored at all. For example, Roddy is obviously a magical being of some sort, since he can understand crows. There's also a sort of symbolic crowning within the book. However, it's never explained who Roddy is or why he can do such magical things. "Ten Thousand Charms" might be worth the read for fairy tale fans, but only when there's nothing better around.
Description: Jacky Faber, first introduced in "Bloody Jack", is back in a landbound sequel to her previous high-seas adventures. In "The Curse of the Blue Tattoo", Jacky is enrolled at a young ladies' boarding school in Boston, where street urchin turned ship's boy Jacky is entirely out of her element. Despite that, Jacky soon adjusts to boarding school life, even though she's pining away for her intended, Jaimy. However, when Jacky is caught dancing with sailors on the docks and accused of lewd behavior, she is expelled from the academy and set to working as a serving girl. There, Jacky learns of the mysterious death of another serving girl that seems to be connected to the creepy Reverend Mathers, who has picked out Jacky for special attention. Jacky's life may be in danger, and to prevent herself from meeting the same fate as the other poor girl, she must solve the mystery once and for all.
Review: "The Curse of the Blue Tattoo" is vastly different from its prequel, while still retaining the spunky narrative that defined that novel. I enjoyed the new setting, taking Jacky away from her ship and plunking her down in the midst of a bunch of proper young ladies. Jacky is still her plucky self, and her spunk is still overdone. The plot in this book is more intricate than the plot of its predecessor, which makes it more of a joy to read. However, I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I did in "Bloody Jack". Overall, fans of "Bloody Jack" should enjoy the change of pace in this entertaining sequel.
Rating: 4
Description: Artemesia is the daughter of a pirate queen, and she's sick of practicing deportment at the Angels Academy for Young Maidens. Escaping from the school, she hunts up her mother's crew and breezily commands them out to sea in a leaky boat. Unfortunately, Art's memories of her early life may not be accurate-her seasick crew are actors, and Art's infamous mother was the darling of the stage in a pirate drama. But fiery, pistol-proof Art soon shapes her men into the cleverest pirate crew afloat. And when they meet the dread ship Enemy and her beautiful, treacherous captain, Goldie Girl, Art is certain that her memories are real. The Seven Seas aren't large enough for two pirate queens: Art will have the battle of her life to win her mother's title--and the race for the most fabulous treasure in pirate lore.
Note: Lazily stole this description from amazon.com
Review: "Piratica" is a completely new take on the typical pirate with a heart of gold story. The book is set in a slightly skewed historic England. I don't see why the author couldn't have set it in real historic England, but the difference doesn't detract from the plot at all. Art is a feisty, intelligent character who will get readers laughing with her and cheering her along on her escapades. Her discovery of her mother's true profession tugs at the heartstrings just enough. Art's pirate crew are characterized in a perfect place between realistic and over-the-top. The villains are perfectly villanous and they get a fitting punishment for their dirty deeds. The only character I found lacking was Felix, mysterious semi-romantic interest of Art's. He never became fully real to me, and I wasn't sure exactly what the author was going for with his and Art's relationship. I wanted to like him, but I just never felt like I got to know him. The plot was an exciting series of adventures that were just this side of unbelievable. The only part that I found a little off was the final search for the treasure. The riddle was all fine and good, but it seemed like the pirates found it much too quickly and easily after all they went through to find the place itself. Nevertheless, the story ends in a very satisfactory manner. "Piratica" is a rollicking high seas adventure is the perfect read for lovers of pirates and strong heroines.
Rating: 3
Description: Mary Faber is an orphan street girl, running with a gang in London, until opportunity presents itself in the form of a ship that needs young boys for its crew. Pretending to be male, Mary, adopting the name Jacky, uses the reading skills she learned from her late father to gain passage on the ship, the HMS Dolphin. "Jacky" and the other ship's boys form their own group and invent a "brotherhood" that swears that they will always remain true to each other. But it's hard for Jacky to get close to the other boys, as she must hide her gender from even them. "The Deception", as she calls it, becomes more difficult as time goes on, and Jacky must use all her street smarts to keep her gender secret from her suspicious shipmates. And when Jacky falls herself falling for her best friend Jaimy, things become even more convoluted. How long can Jacky keep up her Deception?
Review: I've always been a fan of girl-disguised-as-boy books and I am similarly attracted to books taking place on the high seas, so this book had a double appeal for me. The book takes place almost exclusively on the ship, but the plot is interesting enough that the reader isn't bored by the unchanging scenery. Mary "Jacky" Faber is certainly a spunky hero(ine), but her spunk can be a bit overwhelming and unbelievable at times. Despite that, she can get readers cheering for her. The other members of the Brotherhood are definitely interesting, if a bit vague sometimes. Jacky's narration is so full of London street slang that it often feels forced and overdone, but the reader gets used to it after a while. The ending of the book is more realistic than I had expected, and was a pleasant surprise, even if it is less exciting ending than my expectations. Overall, "Bloody Jack" is a high seas adventure that has its share of flaws but will nevertheless appeal to fans of plucky heroines in disguise.
Rating: 1.5
Description: When she was a child, Ruth was brutally attacked by a green-eyed wolf in the woods on the path to her grandmother's house. Her legs still bear the scars of the assault, but Ruth has grown into a young woman, learning the trade of her father, a blacksmith, after her brother leaves for the Crusades and learning herb lore from her grandmother, whom the village has labeled a witch. When Ruth's cousin Peter returns from the Crusades with the news that her brother has died, Ruth is devastated, but when the young Earl, William, enters her family's blacksmith's shop, Ruth cannot help but be drawn to the man who, far from being disgusted by her profession and sharp tongue, seems intrigued. William is fascinated by Ruth and begins to make up excuses to see her, but he knows that their relationship is doomed to end, as William's family suffers under a curse that would put Ruth in danger. When a series of brutal killings take place in the very wood where Ruth was attacked as a child, the village looks for the same wolf that is responsible for Ruth's scars. When Ruth learns William's secret, that he is the wolf who caused her so much pain, she must look to her heart to tell her what action to take.
Review: After reading the author's book "Midnight Pearls", I was expecting a light, interesting retelling of a fairytale. What I found in "Scarlet Moon" was a dull, dark, and somewhat confusing story. Ruth is a somewhat interesting character, but she is never developed to the extent that she could have been, and all the other characters are pale and flat. I was never able to bring myself to care for them one way or the other. What little plot there is mostly revolves around the revelation of William's secret, but it's obvious from his and Ruth's very first meeting that he's a werewolf. While the ending is surprising, it's still rather stupid and is never explained to my satisfaction. Overall, I'd only recommend "Scarlet Moon" if you're desperate for a fairytale retelling or a ginormous fan of the "Once Upon A Time" series (of which this book is a part).
Rating: 3
Description: On Jemma's fourteenth birthday, she gets into a petty fight with her mother about leaving India to go to school in England. Minutes later, after storming off in a huff, Jemma is overtaken by a vision of her mother plunging a dagger into her own breast to avoid being devoured by a giant snake. Horrified, Jemma runs to the place she saw in her vision, only to find a crowd surrounding her mother's dead body. Ironically, after her mother's death, Jemma is sent to school in England, just like she wanted. But Spence Academy is not the school Jemma had imagined. The students are cruel, the headmistress is worse, and Jemma is still having visions. Sometimes she sees her mother, always just out of reach. And a strange boy, one Jemma saw in India just before her mother's death, is hanging around the school among a band of gypsies. When Jemma finds the diary of a schoolgirl from the past, telling of great magics and a secret society called the Order, Jemma is swept into a decades-old mystery, bringing three classmates along for the ride in a deadly struggle against the very power that caused her mother's death.
Review: The plot of this book is original and well-thought-out, but it seemed rather dreary to me. The whole thing struck me as having a sort of bad horror movie feel to it. The characters were distant and unreachable; I was unable to get into their heads properly. Despite that, I kept reading because of the originality. I'd no clue what was going on (in a good way), and I wanted to find out. Overall, this book is good enough for me to look into reading the sequel when it comes out, but it's nothing to get too excited over.