Maddie goes to stay with her mysterious grandmother in the Louisiana bayou. This is a lovely, quiet book, full of beautifully described magic. Maddie’s growing love for the bayou and its people drive the whole thing, while underneath there’s the threat of its destruction. I’d be curious to know how kids react to this one, since it hinges on a now historical event that they won’t know/remember in the same way as adult readers.

This was my first 48 hour challenge, and I’m happy to say that I 1) successfully completed it 2) got a lot of reading done and 3) read some books I really enjoyed.

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami-finished
Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson-finished
Pointe by Brandy Colbert-finished
Cold Steel by Kate Elliott
A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury
Flygirl by Sherri Smith-finished
Lost Girl Found by Leah Bassoff
A Bride’s Story 2 by Kaoru Mori-finished
She Is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes-finished
Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear-finished
Tin Star by Cecil Castellucci-finished
My Neighbor Totoro-finished
Melusine by Sarah Monette-finished

Reading time: 19 hours total
Blogging time: 45 min total

Brief reviews for the four I read yesterday:
Flygirl by Sherri Smith: The story of a young African-American girl during WWII who passes for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Smith tells the story well, with a lot of sympathy for Ida Mae, as well as a look at the consequences of her decision and what she both gains and loses. I will also admit that I thought a lot about Code Name Verity–this is a great readalike for CNV fans who like the flying bits. Also, someone mentions “Dream a Little Dream” which is just not fair; ow, my heart.

My Neighbor Totoro: An elementary age novelization of Miyazaki’s classic film which…I have not seen. The novelization stands well in its own right. There are some slightly awkward moments which I suspect are due to the vagaries of translation, but there’s also a lovely timeless, magical quality to the story.

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes: It seems strange to call a book set in New Orleans just before and during Hurricane Katrina gentle, but I kept thinking of Ninth Ward as just that. Lanesha faces extraordinary difficulties, but her story is about much more than the hurricane. It’s about friendship, and about family, about love and loss and finding out who you are. I also love the cover–perfect for the tone of the book, and for Lanesha herself.

Melusine by Sarah Monette: I loved The Goblin Emperor, written by Monette under the pen-name Katherine Addison, SO MUCH. So much that I immediately checked out the first book in her debut series, The Doctrine of Labyrinths. It’s very, very dark and intense, which means that I couldn’t quite love it as whole-heartedly as The Goblin Emperor. I do very much appreciate what it does, and some of the things that happened were horrifying because I cared so much about the characters. (I also think there would be an interesting little essay on how it fits into and resists the grimdark genre.) That said, I’m not sure if I’ll be reading the rest of the books in the series.