In My Mailbox - 2/25/12

Credit goes to The Story Siren for creating and hosting the In My Mailbox feature.

Here are the new books I got this week:

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Eighteen-year-old Luddite Elliot North has always known her place in this caste system. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. But now the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress and threatening Luddite control; Elliot’s estate is floundering; and she’s forced to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliott wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she abandoned him.\
But Elliot soon discovers her childhood friend carries a secret—-one that could change the society in which they live…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she has lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Ripper by Amy Carol Reeves

It’s 1888, and after her mother’s sudden death, Abbie is sent to live with her grandmother in a posh London neighborhood. When she begins volunteering at Whitechapel Hospital, Abbie finds she has a passion for helping the abused and sickly women there.
But within days, patients begin turning up murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper. As more women are murdered, Abbie realizes that she and the Ripper share a strange connection: she has visions showing the Ripper luring his future victims to their deaths—moments before he turns his knife upon them. Her desperation to stop the massacres leads Abbie on a perilous hunt for the killer. And her search leads to a mysterious brotherhood whose link to the Ripper threatens not just London but all of mankind.

By the Light of the Silvery Moon by Tricia Goyer

Remember the Titanic 100 years after its doomed voyage with Tricia Goyer’s fictional portrayal of one woman’s journey. To Amelia Gladstone, this ship means promise of seeing family again. To Quentin Walpole, the Titanic represents a new start in America…if he can get onboard. All seems lost until Amelia offers him a ticket, securing his passage—and bringing him face-to-face with his railroad tycoon father and older brother, Damian. As Amelia works to reconcile father and son, she finds herself the object of both brothers’ affection. Can she choose between two brothers? Or will she lose everything to the icy waters of the Atlantic?

Book review: A Girl for All Time: Matilda's Secret by Sandra Goldbacher

A Girl for All Time: Matilda's Secret by Sandra Goldbacher (Published by Daughters of History Ltd, September 20, 2011)

This book is written in the form of a diary kept by the main character, thirteen-year-old Matilda, who is the fictional cousin of Katherine Howard. Matilda's family is poor, even though they are related to nobility and have a big house and servants. Katherine's uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, offers to help the family out financially if Matilda's parents send one of their daughters to court. Matilda is chosen because she is able to be quiet and observant. Uncle Norfolk wants her to be a friend to Katherine and help her attract the attention of the king, Henry VIII, who is unhappy with his current wife, Anne of Cleves.

At first, Matilda is overwhelmed by life at court. Most of the other girls look down upon her. However, she and Katherine quickly become friends, and Katherine helps her out by giving her fashionable clothes to wear, and making the other girls be nice to her. With Matilda's help, Katherine is soon noticed by the king, who divorces his current wife so he can marry Katherine. At first Katherine loves the jewels and fancy gowns, but she soon becomes resentful that she cannot be with Thomas, the boy she loves. Matilda is terrified because she knows that if the king discovers that Katherine is in love with someone else, terrible things could happen to Katherine and even everyone in her household, including Matilda.

Matilda's Secret is the first book in a new series from England called A Girl for All Time. Each book will be about a different girl from the same family during various important times in British history. Like the American Girls series, there will be dolls of each main character. However, judging by the content in this book, this series seems intended for slightly older readers than the American Girls series, since there are references to torture, executions, infidelity, and many unpleasant facts of life in the sixteenth century. The descriptions are not extremely graphic, but I do think the subject matter makes the book more appropriate for preteens and young teens, rather than younger readers. I think this book would be enjoyed by the same readers who enjoy similar series, such as the My Story, Dear America, and Royal Diaries series.

Waiting on Wednesday: Changeling by Philippa Gregory

Changeling by Philippa Gregory (Published by Simon Pulse, May 22, 2012)

Dark myths, medieval secrets, intrigue, and romance populate the pages of the first-ever teen series from #1 bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl.
The year is 1453. Eighteen-year-old Luca De Vere is brilliant, gorgeous—and accused of heresy. Cast out of his religious order for using the new science to question old superstitious beliefs, Luca is recruited into a secret sect: The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to investigate evil and danger in its many forms, and strange occurrences across Europe, in this year—the end of days.
Isolde is a seventeen-year-old girl shut up in a nunnery so she can’t inherit any of her father’s estate. As the nuns walk in their sleep and see strange visions, Isolde is accused of witchcraft—and Luca is sent to investigate her, but finds himself plotting her escape.
Despite their vows, despite themselves, love grows between Luca and Isolde as they travel across Europe with their faithful companions, Freize and Ishraq. The four young people encounter werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers as they head toward a real-life historical figure who holds the boundaries of Christendom and the secrets of the Order of the Dragon.
The first in a series, this epic and richly detailed drama is grounded in historical communities and their mythic beliefs. Philippa Gregory’s trademark touch deftly brings the past—and its salacious scandals—vividly and disturbingly to life.


I heard about this book a while ago and really wanted to read it, but it didn't have a cover or title for the longest time. But the cover and title were released today, so I decided to finally feature it for my Waiting on Wednesday pick. It looks really good - though I'm not sure about the werewolves! (then again, the werewolves on the Titanic book, Fateful by Claudia Gray, was really good, so I suppose werewolves can work in historical fiction!)

In My Mailbox - 2/18/12

Credit goes to The Story Siren for creating and hosting the In My Mailbox feature.

Here are the new books I got this week:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one unlikely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life– a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha… and the secrets of her heart.

The Girl in the Mask by Marie-Louise Jensen

Set in Georgian England, fifteen-year-old Sophia is trapped by the limitations of living in a man's world. Forced by her father to give up everything she loves, Sophia is ordered to make a new life in Bath. By day, she is trapped in the social whirl of balls and masquerades. By night, she secretly swaps her ball gowns for breeches, and turns to highway robbery to get her revenge . . . When one man begins to take a keen interest in her, Sophia must keep her distance, or risk unmasking her secret life.

Daughters of the Sea: Lucy by Kathryn Lasky

A choice between love and survival . . . Lucy's family is excited to spend the summer in Bar Harbor, Maine. Her minister father is pleased to preside over such a prestigious congregation, and his social-climbing wife is ecstatic at the chance to find a rich husband for her daughter.Yet Lucy wants nothing to do with the Bar Harbor social scene; she's simply excited to spend the summer by the sea, watching the waves from her favorite spot on the cliff. Despite having never gone swimming, Lucy feels an intense connection to the ocean, and meets a handsome ship-builder who shows Lucy a world she's never known, yet somehow always longed for.However, her mother will stop at nothing to keep Lucy and the ship builder apart, even if it means throwing Lucy into the arms of a wealthy man with a dangerous secret. Can Lucy break free and embrace her destiny as a daughter of the sea? Or is she doomed to waste away in a gilded cage, slowly dying of a broken heart?

Gladiator: Street Fighter by Simon Scarrow

Now a member of Julius Caesar’s palace, Marcus’s training continues in the city of Rome. The streets are plagued by vicious gang war attacks, and Caesar must employ his own gang leader, who learns of a plot to murder him.
Only Marcus can go in undercover. But he’s in terrible danger. If the rival gang discover him the price will be fatal. Julius Caesar’s isn’t the only life at risk . . .

American Girl Mysteries: The Hidden Gold by Sarah Masters Buckey

Marie-Grace can't wait to begin her journey up the Mississippi River with her father. The steamboat they're traveling on is crowded with all sorts of interesting passengers, including Wilhelmina Newman, a girl Marie-Grace's age. Wilhelmina is traveling alone, and she's carrying a secret in one of her trunks--clues to hidden Gold Rush treasure.

American Girl Mysteries: The Cameo Necklace by Evelyn Coleman

As Cecile exits a crowded showboat after enjoying a lavish Floating Circus, she stumbles--and when she gets up, she realizes that the cameo necklace she borrowed from her aunt is no longer on her neck. Knowing that the necklace was the last gift Tante Tay's husband gave her before he died, Cecile is desperate to find it.

American Girl Mysteries: The Crystal Ball by Jacqueline Greene

Rebecca and her neighbor, Mr. Rossi, seem to be having a run of bad luck. When Mr. Rossi sprains his wrist, Rebecca takes over the care and feeding of his carrier pigeons. Then a strange black pigeon delivers an eerie message warning Mr. Rossi of danger, and Rebecca must jump into action to find answers.

The Diary of Marie Landry, Acadian Exile by Stacy Allbritton

During the Great Upheaval of 1755, the British forced the Acadians to leave their homes in the Canadian provinces and later the American colonies. Fourteen-year-old Marie Landry joins her family and friends on a mass exodus from Maryland to Louisiana 10 years later, where land awaits them. Along the way, she notes her feelings of despair and hope through candid diary entries.

Matilda's Secret by Sandra Goldbacher

Norfolk 1540 Thirteen-year old Matilda Marchmont lives a dull life in the country - riding her horse, mixing her family's medicines, imagining herself to be a witch and writing in her secret diary. She longs for the glamour and thrills of life at court, led by her ultrafashionable young cousin Katherine Howard. And then one night something DOES happen. She is to be sent to court too, as a lady in waiting and spy, to help further Katherine's marriage chances with King Henry the Eighth himself. Matilda is drawn into a glittering world of intrigue, intense friendship and mortal danger which takes her from Hampton Court Palace to the Bloody Tower itself.

Pendragon Legacy: Sword of Light by Katherine Roberts

It is the darkest hour of the darkest Age. King Arthur is dead, killed by his wicked nephew, Mordred. Saxon invaders rampage across the land and forces of evil are gathering. The path to the throne lies open to Arthur's only remaining flesh and blood - Mordred. But there is one with a better claim than Mordred - Arthur's secret child. Brought by Merlin to enchanted Avalon as a baby and raised there for protection, the king's heir must take up a vital quest: to search for the four magical Lights with the power to restore Arthur's soul to his body. Introducing Rhianna Pendragon: unlikely princess and Camelot's last hope.

Princess of the Wild Swans blog tour: Interview with Diane Zahler

Diane Zahler is the author of the new novel Princess of the Wild Swans, as well as two other fairy tale retellings, The Thirteenth Princess and A True Princess.

Why did you decide to become a writer of fairy tale retellings? Have you always loved fairy tales?

I’ve loved fairy tales since before I was old enough to read myself. I even wrote my own versions in elementary school! Fairy tales are great to retell because they have such a universal appeal. Many of them started as oral tales that helped to explain or elaborate on people's most basic fears and desires. Readers recognize their own feelings when they read, even hundreds of years after the original stories were written down, and even in their retold forms. (And, of course, I love magic.)

Do you plan to write more fairy tale retellings? What is your own favorite fairy tale of all time?

My fourth book, which will be published in September 2013, has a fairy tale at its center, but it uses the story as a springboard. It's more of an original tale than a retelling. As for a favorite fairy tale -- well, I love "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," which I retold as The Thirteenth Princess. And "Rapunzel" has always been a favorite, despite Shannon Hale's comical rant against it. "Why didn't the prince just bring a ROPE?" she asks. It's a great question -- but you could ask a similar question about almost any fairy tale. Why did Snow White eat that apple, given what she knew? Why didn't Sleeping Beauty just stay away from sharp objects? Why did Little Red Riding Hood wear such bright colors when there were wolves around? Any fairy tale requires a certain suspension of disbelief.

What are some of your own favorite books and authors?

There are so many! I worked in the children’s room of a public library through high school and college, so I kept reading children’s books long after I grew up. Fantasy books I loved include the Narnia series, all the books by Edward Eager and E. Nesbit, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster, The Wonderful O by James Thurber, The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall, Ursula Leguin's Wizard of Earthsea books, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Realistic fiction I read and reread include All-of-a-Kind Family by Theodore Taylor, The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright, From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsberg, the Henry Huggins and Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, and Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I’m probably leaving out dozens.

When you are not writing, how do you enjoy spending your time?

Reading. And I love to travel -- in fact, right now I'm in Belgium and will be here for five months. I plan to go all over Europe -- as much as I can afford to! -- and maybe even make it to Morocco. And I love to eat whatever they're serving where I travel (within reason).

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just this – I hope your readers love Princess of the Wild Swans! And thank you so much for hosting me on your blog.

To learn more about Diane Zahler and Princess of the Wild Swans you can visit her website (where you can also see a list of the other stops for the blog tour). You can also read my review of Princess of the Wild Swans here.

Book review: The Hidden Gold: A Marie-Grace Mystery by Sarah Masters Buckey

The Hidden Gold: A Marie-Grace Mystery by Sarah Masters Buckey (Published by American Girl, February 28, 2012)

Eleven-year-old Marie-Grace Gardner and her father are travelling up the Mississippi River on a steamboat to visit his friends in Pennsylvania in the spring of 1854. Although she will miss her friends and family in New Orleans, Marie-Grace likes travelling on the elegant steamboat. Shortly after boarding the steamboat, Marie-Grace meets another girl her age, Wilhelmina Newman.

Wilhelmina came to New Orleans to find her dying father, who became sick while traveling home from the California Gold Rush. She arrived too late, and found that her father had already died. He was supposed to be bringing home gold that he found in California, and Wilhelmina desperately needs to find that gold, because her mother died while her father was away and her grandmother can't afford to keep Wilhelmina and her two younger brothers much longer. If she doesn't find the gold, her brothers will have to go live with other relatives. After losing her parents, Wilhelmina is determined that she and her siblings must not be separated. Marie-Grace wants to help her new friend, but where could the gold be? And is a fellow passenger also trying to find the gold, so he can steal it?

I enjoyed the original American Girls book series about Marie-Grace, so I was looking forward to reading this book. While I enjoyed it, I didn't like it quite as much as the main series, because the historical setting was not as interesting. However, despite being much older than the target audience, my guess for who the villain was turned out to be completely wrong! I think younger fans of the series would really enjoy this book, but for the older fans like me who have loved the series since childhood, this is probably not the most interesting of the books.

Book review: The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges (Published by Delacorte, January 10, 2012)

Sixteen-year-old Katerina Alexandrovna, who lives in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1888, wants nothing more than to become a doctor - which is completely unsuitable for a young woman in her position. Katerina is a duchess, related to the royal family of Russia, and so she must marry well, and can never have a career. Katerina also has a dark secret - she is a necromancer, and can raise the dead. She hates her secret power, and considers it a curse.

Katerina is forced to attend countless balls and social events by her mother, who wants her to marry well. Katerina's evil classmate at her finishing school, Princess Elena, wants Katerina to marry her older brother, Crown Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro. Elena is a witch, and Katerina suspects that she tried to kill several girls at their school. Against her will, because of her unwanted powers, Katerina is drawn into a war involving dark supernatural forces that threaten Russia.

The Gathering Storm is a book that I have mixed feelings about. There are several things that I absolutely loved about this book, and others that I wasn't that impressed with. First off, I absolutely *loved* the setting of Tsarist Russia in the late nineteenth century. The setting was very original for a young adult novel and was described really well by the author. It's obvious she did her research. I also loved the premise of the story, it's very different from any other young adult paranormal book out there. Now, on to the things I didn't like as much. This book seemed over the top with the many different kinds of supernatural creatures featured in the story. There's necromancers, fairies, vampires, witches and wizards, zombies, and werewolves. I think that's all of them! It's all a bit much for one book. Second, Katerina's character frustrated me at times. I loved that she wanted to be a doctor despite the fact that it wasn't proper for a girl of her position. However, sometimes she acted rather stupid. I wish she had asked for help rather than giving in to the bad guys because they threatened her family and friends, and she assumed that even with help she could not protect them. With all that said, I would still recommend this book to readers who are looking for something different in the young adult paranormal genre, and I still plan to read the rest of the books in the trilogy when they are published, as I want to see where the story goes.