Teen Tuesday and Audio Review: This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi. This Woven Kingdom #1. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~13 hours. Read by Kate Reading. HarperAudio/ HarperCollins, February, 2022. 9780063220225. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi. 
Alizeh is a servant in a wealthy house in the kingdom of Ardunia. She wears a garment called a snodder to hide her features because she is a jinn. Even though the wars between the jinn and humankind are over, jinn are not safe to roam about in society and Alizeh is at risk even more because she has ice in her veins, which makes her very powerful. She's also a talented seamstress and tries to earn extra money sewing gowns for clients at night. There is a huge ball for the crown prince coming and a client is interested in having her sew several. Traveling through the streets late at night is dangerous for an unaccompanied woman though, and she's attacked by a young boy, but a shadowy figure intervenes and Alizeh flees into the night, dropping her parcels. That figure is Prince Kamran, who is more interested in leading his army than attending the ball that is being thrown in his honor, but his grandfather insists that he choose a bride.

Ms Mafi is a gifted writer and this epic high fantasy series starter based on an ancient Persian poem and Islamic tradition is riveting from page one. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for book two, These Infinite Threads, which, luckily, is out. Highly recommended!

Middle Grade Monday: The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo

Image: Candlewick Press

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. 256 p. Candlewick Press, September, 2021. 9781536213616. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Happy Monday! I hope you had a healthy and restful holiday filled with a lot of great books. Today was my first day back from break and it was quite interesting. Lots of kids on the quarantine list due to either testing positive or exposure to Covid, or travelled and are unvaccinated. I'm in a 5 - 8 middle school and until recently, fifth graders were too young for vaccination. There were a few staff members out as well. Taking attendance was a bit more involved and then there were the late-comers on Zoom. Sigh. It's good to be back though. 

Middle Grade Monday features the very last book I read in 2021, The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. Sadly, I'm woefully behind in all my reading and it took me forever to get to this gem. I must say though, reading it as my last book of 2021 was lovely.

Brother Edik illuminates manuscripts in a monastery while he awaits visions, which he reports to the his superior, who then writes them down in The Chronicles of Sorrows. His other job is caring for Answelica the goat, a being so ornery that she strikes fear in everyone. Imagine his surprise then, when Brother Edik discovers a little girl, curled up, asleep in Answelica's stall holding the goat's ear! The girl is dirty, bloody, and running a high fever. She remembers nothing about how she got to the monastery. She only remembers her name, Beatryce.

Gentle Brother Edik convinces the monks to nurse the child back to health. As he cares for Beatryce, he uncovers a secret. The girl knows how to read and write! It is forbidden for girls and women to read and write in the kingdom! As Brother Edik ponders the danger of this, he remembers one of his earlier prophecies, "There will one day come a girl who will unseat a king..." Could Beatryce be this girl?

This book is getting a lot of Newbery buzz. Ms. DiCamillo builds a dangerous world, unfolding it slowly in spare and concise language. Readers will instantly care for Brother Edik, Beatryce and later, Jack Dory, all three are so pure and vulnerable in this harsh world. It is a rare thing to possess a true moral compass. 

Answelica's antics lend humor and her devotion to Beatryce is endearing. The author packs a lot of adventure and suspense in this rather short book. The black and white illustrations are well-placed and lovely.

Fans of Kate DiCamillo will not be disappointed. Fans of Adam Gidwitz's The Inquisitor's Tale will likely enjoy The Beatryce Prophecy, though there's no magic here, just the magic of the powers of friendship, love, courage and storytelling.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs

Image: Penguin Random House

The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs. Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series #6. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~15 hours. Narrated by Kirby Heyborne. Listening Library, February, 2021. 9780593415306. (Review of downloadable e-audiobook borrowed from the public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs. This sixth book of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children is the series finale. It is absolutely imperative that the books get read in order. Book five, The Conference of Birds, ended in a cliffhanger and book six picks right up. There will be no spoilers here, except to say that the pace is fast, furious and fairly violent. Fans of the series will absolutely need to read this finale because all of Peculiardom is in jeopardy and chances are, they've come to care about Jacob Portman and his friends.

The audiobooks have been narrated by Kirby Heyborne, who performs an impressive array of voices and imbues energy and emotion into the tale. 

Teen Tuesday: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. Raven Cycle series #1. Scholastic Inc., September, 2012. 9780545424929. (Own)

Teen Tuesday features The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater. The Raven Boys is book one of a four book paranormal series called The Raven Cycle. Blue Sargent lives in Henrietta, Virginia in a family of psychics but has no psychic power herself. She is cursed by the prophecy that she will kill her true love with their first kiss. Henrietta is also the location of Aglionby Academy, an exclusive prep school for rich boys. Blue is not interested in them, but one boy, Gansey, is on a quest. He is hoping to find an ancient Welsh king. This work of magical realism is peopled with fascinating characters and set in a town so vivid it is almost a character itself.