Weekly Round-Up 7/19

Weekly Round-Up is my wrap-up of last week's activities and includes what I'm reading this week, reviews I've posted, books in the mail and anything else of interest plus From the Library, my weekly listing of what I've checked out from the library.

This week I'm reading The Clue of the Velvet Mask (Keene) and Princess of Glass (George).  I'm listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) and The Red Pyramid (Riordian). 

Last week I read Dark Flame (Noël), The Mystery at the Ski Jump (Keene), and Sleeping in Flame (Carroll). 

Other Reviews posted:
Shadowland (Noël)
The Eternal Ones (Miller)
The Girl with the Mermaid Hair (Ephron) (audio)

From Traveling ARC Tours
Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George

Hoping to escape the troubles in her kingdom, Princess Poppy reluctantly agrees to take part in a royal exchange program, whereby young princes and princesses travel to each other’s countries in the name of better political alliances—and potential marriages. It’s got the makings of a fairy tale—until a hapless servant named Eleanor is tricked by a vengeful fairy godmother into competing with Poppy for the eligible prince. Ballgowns, cinders, and enchanted glass slippers fly in this romantic and action-packed happily-ever-after quest from an author with a flair for embroidering tales in her own delightful way.

Charlie Bone and the Red Knight (audio) by Jenny Nimmo, read by Simon Jones

Charlie and his friends take on the most powerful and dangerous magic in Book Eight of this extraordinary series. As wicked forces come to a head at Bloor's Academy, Charlie and his friends must use all their magic and all their might to fight the evil and save Charlie's parents.
In his greatest adventure yet, Charlie must discover the fate of his family, the evil intentions of the Bloors, what has become of Septimus Bloor's will, and, most important, the destiny of the Red King's heirs. But are the Children of the Red King strong enough to defeat the darkness to find the answers?
Join Charlie and his friends as they race to unlock the mystery of the Red King in this final chapter. . . .

Frannie in Pieces (audio) by Delia Ephron, read by Danielle Ferland

What does you in—brain or heart?
Frannie asks herself this question when, a week before she turns fifteen, her dad dies, leaving her suddenly deprived of the only human being on planet Earth she feels understands her. Frannie struggles to make sense of a world that no longer seems safe, a world in which one moment can turn things so thoroughly for the worse. She discovers an elegant wooden box with an inscription: Frances Anne 1000. Inside, Frannie finds one thousand hand-painted and -carved puzzle pieces. She wonders if her father had a premonition of his death and finished her birthday present early. Feeling broken into pieces herself, Frannie slowly puts the puzzle together, bit by bit. But as she works, something remarkable begins to happen: She is catapulted into an ancient foreign landscape, a place suspended in time where she can discover her father as he was B.F.—before Frannie.

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine, read by Hannah Gordon

Seasoned fractured fairy tale teller Gail Carson Levine provides the captivating back story of Tinker Bell and Co. in this lavishly illustrated addit...more Seasoned fractured fairy tale teller Gail Carson Levine provides the captivating back story of Tinker Bell and Co. in this lavishly illustrated addition to the Neverland canon. Freckled and eager to please, Prilla is a brand new fairy, born of a baby's laugh. Upon her arrival to Neverland, she is dismayed to discover she has no talent for any of the fairy avocations. Tinker Bell (a pots-and-pans-talent fairy) takes Prilla to see Mother Dove, whose single blue egg holds the secret of the island's eternal youth. But before the wise bird can advise Prilla, Neverland is shaken by a terrible hurricane. Mother Dove is thrown off her nest, and the precious egg is shattered. Immediately, Neverland folk begin to age. The island's only hope is for some brave fairies to take the egg pieces to Kyto the dragon and ask him to restore it with his fiery breath. But first, the fairies must collect treasures with which to bribe the evil dragon. Mother Dove chooses Prilla to be part of the fairy team to undertake the quest for the egg. Can one little no-talent fairy help save Neverland from certain doom? While Fairy Dust is unabashedly based on Disney's Peter Pan, Levine's companion version feels wonderfully fresh and original. The charming maxims of Levine's fairy world (fairies say "Fly with you," instead of "Pleased to meet you," and need dust made from Mother Dove's feathers to fly) along with David Christiana's sumptuous illustrations breathe new life into a beloved classic.

Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand by Gail Caron Levine, read by Rosalyn Landor

 "Beware a mermaid's wrath!" the mermaid Soop warns the water-talent fairy Rani. Soop has grown tired of waiting for the magic wand that Rani promised her in exchange for her help saving Never Land. And though Rani would love to fulfill her promise and bring Soop a wand, Mother Dove, the wisest creature in Never Land, has forbidden it. Her patience at an end, Soop sends a flood to destroy Fairy Haven. Now the only thing that can save the fairies' home is the arrival of the wand.

Rani, Tinker Bell, and the fairy queen, Clarion, set off on a perilous quest to find a wand, a journey that takes them across an ocean, to the palace of the Great Wanded fairies. Many obstacles stand between the Never fairies and their desire for peace in Fairy Haven, not the least of which are their own secret dreams. For a wand can easily tempt a fairy into making a foolish wish, with terrible consequences.

In this thrilling sequel to Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg, Newbery Honor-winning author Gail Carson Levine and illustrator David Christiana have conspired to spin a riveting fairytale about the dangers of dreams come true.