The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories

Pratchett, Terry. The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories. 2017. 256p. 235 mins. ISBN 9780062653116. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

How annoyed would a witch be if her vacuum cleaner was mistaken for something other than her mode of transportation? What if small people build a submarine and ended up floating all the way to the sea? What if a random encounter for directions turned into an airship adventure of a lifetime? These tales and more fill the pages of this humorous book. A total of fourteen different stories, some of them featuring recurring characters, showcase the light fantasy settings Pratchett was well known for, including his exploration of the Old West … of Britain, meaning Wales, time travel both back a few hundred years and all the way to the time of dinosaurs, and the tales of fantastic creatures including trolls and gnomes.

At age seventeen, Terry Pratchett sold his first story. While a journalist for a local newspaper, he continued to write and improve his craft. The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories feature fourteen of his early tales, which have been experienced minor updates. The audio version is well engineered and feature sound effects that enhance the narrator’s delivery of voices and setting. Fans of Pratchett’s work as well as light fantasy will enjoy these tales of wizardry and magic.

Boy Meets Boy

Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy. 2003. 185p. ISBN 0-375-82400-6. Available both at FIC LEV and as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Paul has always known he is gay. Even in kindergarten, Paul’s teacher knew and told his parents. Paul is fine with that, that’s just who he is. The kids at his high school are very accepting of Paul as well as of the other students with different gender identities. There is Kyle, who used to pine for Paul but their breakup left behind some scars. There’s Infinite Darlene, who is both the captain of the football team and homecoming queen (making many of the girls mad). There’s Jenny, who dates Chuck, much to Trevor’s dismay. And then there’s Noah. Gorgeous and smart Noah. Paul is immediately attracted to Noah when they first meet in a bookstore, and at first their relationship proceeds with caution.

Soon, however, the two of them become more involved, but one incident breaks up this relationship. Now Paul is devastated. To regain Noah’s trust, Paul will have to pull all the stops and cajole his friends in helping him achieve his goal of once again being part of Noah’s life.

An unrealistic school environment, the universe in which Paul and Noah operate nonetheless holds lessons in acceptance and understanding that apply everywhere, including in our own daily lives.

Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Eve and Adam

Tiller, Jerome. Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Eve and Adam. 2017. 66p. ISBN 9781939846136. Available at FIC TWA on the library shelves.

If Adam and Eve had kept diaries after their creation, this book shows what they might have said about each other. This book combines two of Mark Twain’s funnier short stories into a package where each individual’s thoughts are presented against what the other is doing. While Eve is busy naming everything, Adam is wondering why she bothers him with her speech all the time. Women being from Venus and Men from Mars, the two of them find it hard to agree on anything, but eventually they realize that they belong together. Illustrations add to the story and provide more details. Fans of humorous texts will find their fill with this short read!

The Frog Princess Returns

Baker, E. D. The Frog Princess Returns. Book 9 of the Tales of the Frog Princess series. 2017. 196p. ISBN 978-1-68119-137-9. Available at FIC BAK on the library shelves.

Previously, Princess Emma, the Green Witch had been turned into a frog and had met Prince Eadric, who had suffered the same fate. Now the two of them are humans again, and are spending time in Emma’s kingdom, Greater Greensward. The two lovebirds’ peace is disturbed, however, when Princess Adara arrives in the royal carriage of Eadric’s parents. Claiming to be a distant relative, it is clear to Emma that Adara is very attracted to Eadric.

At the same time, all is not right in the world of the fairies. Queen Willow, the fairy queen, has disappeared, and three fairies are standing for an election to choose the new ruler of the fairy world. Unfortunately, all three are deeply flawed characters that are not liked by a majority of the other fairies, and they offer drastically different programs towards their relationships with the humans. When local plants become afflicted by electoral logos, Emma is asked by the fairies to intervene.

Taking Eadric and Adara with her, Emma investigates who is behind the plants’ destruction and realizes that it will take quite a bit of effort and magic to track down Queen Willow and restore peace to the area.

Filled with dragons, fairies and magic, this light tale is a perfect read for fans of humorous fantasy.

Going Bovine

Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. 2009. 480p. ISBN 978-0-375-89376-6, Available at FIC BRA on the library shelves and as an eBook on Overdrive.

During a trip to Disney World when he was 5, Cameron Smith jumped out of the It’s a Small World ride to join the land of the Innuit. At the time, he and his twin sister Jenna were best friends and did everything together. That trip was the highlight of Cameron’s life. Now at sixteen, Cameron is a loser. He’s failing school, he’s high at least once a week, he has a lame job at Buddha Burger, he doesn’t have a girlfriend and he has no prospects whatsoever, and his sister Jenna hates him. She’s one of the popular and smart kids at school.

His parents are concerned about him, but the only thing that lights Cameron up is the Great Tremolo, a Portuguese singer who uses a recorder. The music is so bad Cameron can’t get enough of it. When Cameron begins to see hallucinations, he first ascribes it to the drugs he’s doing, but soon the fire giants that haunt him feel more real. A series of medical tests later, Cameron is discovered suffering from Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, otherwise known as mad cow disease. Always fatal, Cameron now finds himself in a hospital bed with no hope.

That’s when Dulcie shows up. An angel he saw at Buddha Burger, Dulcie tells Cameron that he must leave the hospital and take a road trip to find Dr. X. Dr. X discovered how to travel to other realities, and he unwittingly unleashed the fire giants on this world. Only Dr. X can provide Cameron with a cure. Accompanied with Gonzo, a high school acquaintance who occupied the hospital bed next to him, Cameron must now cross the United States looking for random events that seem out of place. Chased by men of the United Snow Globe Corporation, Cameron and Gonzo will rescue a Nordic god named Balder currently caught in the body of a lawn gnome, discover great music, find religion, meet the love of their lives (at least, they think), all the while with the fire giants and the Wizard pursuing them. Can Cameron find Dr. X before it’s too late?

A humorous and sometimes confusing book, Cameron never seems to know whether he is still hallucinating in the hospital or whether he is in fact traveling on the road. Fans of King Dork will appreciate the musical references and the contemporary language Cameron uses to explain away his mediocrity and his disease.

Crows & Cards

Helgerson, Joseph. Crows & Cards. 2009. 348p. ISBN 9780618883950. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

In the 1830s on the bank of the Mississippi, Zebulon Crabtree is old enough to leave home and find himself a trade. At least, his parents think so. With many mouths to feed at home, they believe it’s time for the boy to go make something of himself. And since he’s afraid of water, of heights, of splinters, and of just about anything, Zeb is turning down every idea his father throws at him. Which is why Zeb finds himself on a riverboat on the Mississippi River heading south to St. Louis where he will be an apprentice to his uncle, who is a tanner. Being allergic to fur is just too bad for him.

Zeb doesn’t plan on following through with his parents’ plan, however. On board the boat he meets Chilly, a pure gentleman of the South. Hearing of Zeb’s unfortunate destiny, Chilly offers to take Zeb up as an apprentice in exchange for the $70 he was supposed to give to his uncle. Chilly is a gambler extraordinaire, and he tells Zeb he can introduce him to the life of the Brotherhood, a group that takes money from the rich and gives it to the poor orphans. Of course, none of that is true, but Zeb is enough of a rube to fall for it.

Soon Zeb finds himself the unwitting accomplice of a man bent on fleecing most of St. Louis in his gambling den. Zeb runs a telegraph, a wire that tells Chilly the cards his opponent has so that he can make the appropriate bets. But in this sea of denizens, Zeb also meets a slave cook who looks out for him, and old professor versed in the art of cheating, a con artist running a medicine show, as well as an ancient Indian chief and his pretty princess daughter. Though blind, the old man can see through the spirits, and Chilly is more than eager to try to win the gold crown he received from the King of Prussia. Zeb’s ride through St. Louis will be a memorable one!

This Is Just a Test

Rosenberg, Madelyn and Wendy Wan-Long Shang. This Is Just a Test. 2017. 244p. ISBN 978-1-338-03772-2. Available at FIC ROS on the library shelves.

As the only Chinese Jew he knows aside from his sister, David Da-Wei Horowitz feels very different from everyone else, especially as he’s preparing his bar mitzvah. David’s mother is Chinese, and her mother lives with them. David’s father is Jewish, and his mother lives a few blocks away from them in a suburb of Washington, D.C. Both grandmothers are always competing against each other to see who can cook the better dish, who can better care for the family, and who is loved more. David feels like a ping pong ball between the two of them, always trying to avoid offending either grandmother. Each grandmother endeavors to win David’s affection but rather successfully manage to embarrass him.

At school, David and best friend Hector are mostly ignored by the others, but when heartthrob Scott asks them to join his school trivia team, David jumps at the chance. He hopes to learn how to talk to the girl he likes, Kelli Ann. The three of them begin getting together to practice. Stressed about the upcoming school trivia tournament, David is also worried about his bar mitzvah, especially since both grandmothers are trying to plan it for him, and it has to top his cousin Jacob’s own celebration last year. However, looming larger in David’s mind is the possibility of nuclear annihilation. In this year 1983, both Americans and Soviets are facing each other in a Cold War, and each side has enough nuclear weapons to achieve mutually assured destruction. David is constantly worried that the bombs are about to fly, especially after watching a television special, The Day After. He decides to help Scott build a nuclear shelter in Scott’s back yard, where there will only be room for two, as Scott finds Hector weird. Can David reconcile his friends and manage to avoid dying of embarrassment at his bar mitzvah, or will the Soviets launch a nuclear attack and end it all?

The stress on children of living in the Cold War is palpable in this entertaining book. For other books representing life during the cold war, take a look either at A Night Divided, another historical book where an oppressive society, in this case East Germany, attempts to control the thoughts of its citizens and how a teenage girl fights back, or at The Enemy, taking place in the United States in the 1950s.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Kamkwamba, William and Bryan Mealer. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. 2009. 273p. ISBN 0-06-173032-7. Available at B KAM on the library shelves.

Located in the southeastern part of Africa, Malawi is a relatively poor country. William Kamkwamba’s parents were poor farmers who struggled to make ends meet, but when a famine struck their country they could no longer afford to send William to school. Always eager to learn, William decided to go to the local library instead. There he read a book that changed his life. Titled Using Energy, this book gave William a great idea: Why not build a wind generator to create electricity for his house?

Working hard and scrounging parts throughout the area, William was able in 2002 to erect his own power-generating windmill, and suddenly his family was the only one in the village to have electric light at night. With this plentiful power William could recharge phones and radios, and started making money. Using the same principles, he build a water pump for his mother so she wouldn’t have to make the long round trip every day carrying cans of water.

Though his neighbors all thought he was crazy, William’s dedication and drive to succeed helped him earn international fame through a TED talk and scholarship opportunities to study, first in Malawi, then at Dartmouth College. It also improved the lives of his village’s residents, and proved that it is possible to find solutions to problems that appear intractable.

Jake the Fake Keeps it Real

Robinson, Craig and Adam Mansbach. Jake the Fake Keeps it Real. 2017. 135p. 107 mins. ISBN 978-0-553-52351-5. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Jake is thrilled to have been accepted into the Music and Art Academy for the gifted and talented, a magnet middle and high school in his district that attracts the best and brightest musicians, artists, and creative students in the area. For his audition, he relentlessly practiced “Song for my Father” and performed it flawlessly. The only problem? Jake can’t play anything else. He can’t improvise on the piano. He can’t even read the notes. In fact, Jake is a complete fraud. He doesn’t belong in this school, since he believes he has no talent whatsoever. His sister, Lisa, is now a senior at the Music and Art Academy, and Jake plans on getting rides from Pierre, Lisa’s boyfriend. Lisa is the perfect daughter, perfect girlfriend, and perfect person. Like a unicorn, she’s one of a kind and it’s hard for Jake to follow in her footsteps.

Now that he’s in, however, Jake has a few weeks to figure out what his talent is before the school’s talent show exposes him as the untalented person he thinks he is. With his new friends Azure and the other students in Mr. Allen’s homeroom, Jake plans on re-inventing himself and figuring out what to do before the show. Should he perform the only song he knows again, or will Jake be able to joke his way out of this predicament?

Hilariously written with funny illustrations to boot, this short book will be appreciated by fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

The Hitch Hiker Guide’s to the Galaxy

Adam, Douglas. The Hitch Hiker Guide’s to the Galaxy. 2002. 216p. ISBN 0-345-45374-3. Available at FIC ADA on the library shelves.

Arthur Dent lives a miserable life. His house, he has just found out, is about to be demolished so that a road can be built. As the bulldozers start to crawl towards his house, he shaves, dresses, then leaves and lays down on the ground. The foreman attempts to convince him to get up, but Arthur refuses, holding up the project’s timetable. Passing by, his friend, Fort Prefect, convinces Arthur to follow him to the pub while the foreman lays down in the mud, taking his place.

At the pub, Ford announces loudly that the end of the world will happen in twelve minutes. He plies Arthur with drinks, telling him that he’ll feel better. Arthur is not sure what is happening, and when he hears the sounds of demolition he realizes his house has just been knocked down. Not of that matters, however, as the Earth itself is about to be destroyed by a Vogon construction fleet so that a galactic highway can be built in this sector.

Transported from Earth to the inside of a Vogon ship, Arthur and Ford barely escape the planet’s destruction.. Ford reveals that he’s an alien from Betelgeuse who has been conducting research for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the most comprehensive space encyclopedia. He’s been stuck on Earth for fifteen years, and now he’s pretty happy to be off.

Meanwhile, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Galactic President, steals the Heart of Gold, a ship that travels on improbabilities. When Ford and Arthur are ejected from the Vogon spaceship, they are, improbably, collected 1 second away from death by Zaphod, who turns out to be Ford’s cousin. Along with Trillian, a human female Arthur had met before, and Marvin, a depressed android, they set off on the quest to rediscover the planet Magrathea, which originally designed Earth. Riotous adventures take place as the crew learns to deal with one another.

Originally a radio show, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has been produced as a novel and as a movie, and continues to be popular both as a comedy and as a space opera novel.

As You Like It

Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. 2014. 120p. 148 mins. Available at 822.34 on the library shelves and as an eBook on Overdrive.

The Duchy is in turmoil after the Frederick has overthrown his older brother and taken his place as Duke. He has removed all of the previous occupant’s friends, except for his daughter, Rosalind. Frederick’s niece is allowed to stay at court since she is best friend with Frederick’s own daughter, Celia. The two of them flee court, however, and find refuge in the Arden forest with Touchstone, the court foul.

Meanwhile, Orlando had fallen in love with Rosalind at first sight back at court, but is treated very poorly by his brother Oliver. He also decides to leave his estate (really his brother’s), and arrives in the Arden forest. Rosalind and Celia have disguised themselves, one as a boy named Ganymede, the other as a poor woman.

Orlando rejoins the overthrown Duke’s entourage in the forest, and he is soon writing poems to Rosalind on the forest’s trees. Rosalind as Ganymede joins Orlando and helps him “act out” his desires for Rosalind with him and counsels him on the proper way to do so. And as the shepherdess Phoebe falls in love with Ganymede, they all find themselves hopelessly lost in a love polygon.

Ganymede decides to resolve this situation by untying all of the intrigues, and soon all main characters are married to their love. An announcement is made that Frederick has renounced the throne and is joining a religious order, and they all return to court.

A light and lively comedy, As You Like It is famous for one of Shakespeare’s most well known speeches, “all the world’s a stage,” and also features the sentence “too much of a good thing.”

King Dork

Portman, Frank. King Dork. 2006. 344p. ISBN 0-385-73291-0. Available at FIC POR on the library shelves.

Sophomore Tom Henderson refers to himself as King Dork, the dorkiest person at his school. For the last several years, Tom has had a hard life. His father, who worked for the police department, died in a hit and run years ago. His mother never recovered, and even though she remarried (to a man named Tom), she’s not very present in her children’s life. His little sister Amanda hates Tom (the new husband, nor her brother, although that is still up for debate). Tom doesn’t have many friends, and he spends most of his time with Sam Hellerman, a fellow dork. The two of them have been talking about forming a band for years, but they don’t have instruments so that’s a problem.

They are picked on at school, both by the hateful girls and the depraved jocks as well as by Mr. Teone, the assistant principal responsible for freshmen and sophomores. Tom and Sam do not have girlfriends, and are unlikely to ever find any. In brief, their lives are the stereotypical maladjusted teenager suffering from angst and a propensity for prescription medication (in Sam’s case). So, the beginning of their sophomore year is guaranteed to be terrible, with books like Siddhartha. And it is, when for the second year in a row they are assigned The Catcher in the Rye to read. Tom really hates the Catcher in the Rye, not necessarily because of the story but because all of the adults consider it a rite of passage and apparently have drunk the Holden Caulfield kool-aid.

But when Tom discovers his father’s book collection, everything changes. There are several notes, underlined passages, and secret codes that seem to indicate that his father and a character named Tit, were involved in something big. Was his father actually murdered? Did he commit suicide? Who is Tit? Tom will take steps to investigate this mystery but by doing so will find himself hopelessly entangled with the Hillmont High School community. Who knows, he might even get a girlfriend out of this terrible year.

Fans of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl will thoroughly enjoy Tom’s outlook on life and the coarse language and vulgar thoughts that populate his mind. This book doesn’t mince words but is also hilariously funny. Want to experience rock and roll, teen angst and sex, and discover a mystery at the same time? King Dork is the book for you.

Black Butler, Vol 5

Toboso, Yana. Black Butler, Vol 5. 2011. 176p. ISBN 978-0-316-08429-1. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Sebastian, butler to young Ciel Phantomhive, has never encountered a challenge such as this. In Black Butler, Vol. 4, Phantomhive and Sebastian discovered that West-Jeb, an enterprising import / export dealer, has come up with a clever plan to earn a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria. A Royal Warrant allows a person to claim exclusive service in the name of the monarchy. In the next few days, he is tasked with recreating curry from scratch. Phantomhive has entered a contest to win the same Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria. Sebastian is competing with Agni, Prince Soma’s amazing servant. Sebastien must create a curry that uses only the freshest ingredients but still meet the approval of the English palate. Even though he is a devil, can Sebastian defeat Agni, the servant with the Right Hand of God?

Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6: Cabin Fever

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever. Book 6 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. 2010. 218p. ISBN 978-0-8109-8491-2. Available at FIC KIN on the library shelves.

Greg Heffley’s school year continues relentlessly towards the Christmas break, but this time most of the action takes place outside of school. Greg needs money to feed his Net Kritterz habit and to purchase Christmas presents, so he comes up with several money making schemes. But when Greg and Rodney discover that the delicious drummies they buy at the school holiday fair are sold at incredible markups and that they can be bought in the grocery store, they decide to hold their own holiday fair. It will be the source of all of their income. But to do that they need to advertise, so they create their own newspaper and begin selling ads.

But when Greg and Rodney hang green poster boards on the school wall and the rain leeches the dye and stain the walls, the school and the police get involved. Who would vandalize the school this way? With Christmas fast approaching, with Santa and the police on the lookout, and with the biggest blizzard coming in years, Greg’s life as he knows it is about to end...

Sapphire Blue

Gier, Kierstin. Sapphire Blue. Book 2 of the Ruby Red trilogy. 2012. 362p. ISBN 0-8050-9266-8. Available at FIC GIE on the library shelves.

In Ruby Red, Gwen discovered that she was the Ruby, the 12th and final member of the Circle of Twelve, a group of time-travellers who seek to fulfil the prophecy, but two of the other members, one of them her cousin, have broken ranks and are fighting back against the Circle’s plans.

Now, Gwen is trying to figure out what is actually taking place and why her cousin would escape with one of the chronometers that enable time travel. The Count de St-Germain, the man who started the Circle, lives in the 1700s and Gwen must travel back to meet him again. She also meets her grandfather back in 1948, and with him she begins to question the real purpose of the Circle.

Assisted by a gargoyle demon only visible to her in her own time, Gwen is also trying to navigate the love / hate relationship she has with Gideon, the Diamond and himself a time traveller. And as if life wasn’t hard enough already, she still has to go to school and study. Can Gwen discover what the true purpose of the Circle is before it is too late?

The story concludes in Emerald Green.

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores

Campbell, Jen. Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores. 2011. 188p. ISBN 978-1-4683-0128-1. Available at 381 CAM on the library shelves.

Everyone who works around books has them: stories about people and the strange things they say about books. Campbell has compiled a delightful list of questions and comments the customers who come in the various bookstores she has worked in have said to her over the years. From literary pursuits to unknown titles with unknown supporting details, this short read covers it all and will be sure to elicit a chuckle at the weirdness of people and serves as a lesson that what makes sense to someone often doesn’t make any sense at all.

My personal favorite from my career as a library media specialist: A high school student who had never checked out a book before and who browsed the shelves for about 30 seconds before throwing the towel and announcing that she couldn’t find anything to read. We have over 11,000 books on the shelves...

Ruby Red

Gier, Kerstin. Ruby Red. Book 1 of the Precious Stone Trilogy. 2011. 330p. ISBN 978-0-8050-9252-3. Available at FIC GIE on the library shelves.

Gwyneth Shepherd has always grown up in the shadow of her smart, educated, and pretty cousin Charlotte. The Montrose family has passed the traveling gene through the mother for eons, and it has been preparing Charlotte these last sixteen years to become one of the twelve time travelers who have existed since the beginning of time. Born a single day later than her cousin, Gwyneth escaped the regiment and dedication that came with the role Charlotte is expected to play in the secret society of the Guardians and their time-traveling ways. She has grown as carefree as possible, given that her father died of leukemia when she was only seven years old. Able to see and converse with ghosts, Gwyneth considers herself lucky.

Until she suddenly jumps through time, going back to a period a few hundred years ago. How could this be? Only Charlotte should be able to do this, but even her beautiful cousin has not yet managed to travel through time. After two more incidents, Gwyneth comes clean to her mother, and, much to her relief, her mother believes her. Both of them travel to the Temple, where the Guardians meet. Gwyneth discovers that her mother has in fact lied about her birth day. She was indeed born on the same day as Charlotte, and the prophecy that projected her birth and role was in fact for her and not for her cousin. But why would her mother lie? What was she protecting her from?

Gwyneth must now work with Gideon, another handsome time traveler two years her elder to track the 12 time travelers throughout history. They must also figure out why the Count wishes to get his hand on a blood sample of each of the twelve. Gideon, whose family transmits the time travel gene through the father line, has trained with Charlotte and expected her to join him, but now he must deal with Gwyneth, who is wholly unprepared for this mission. But when they are attacked in two different pasts, they realize that someone is plotting to stop them before they can discover the secret chronograph. Who can they trust to help them?

This story moves at breakneck speed and the time traveling is very well explained. Fans of mysteries and romance such as the Finishing School series will thoroughly enjoy this book. The story continues in Sapphire Blue.

Egg and Spoon

Maguire, Gregory. Egg and Spoon. 2014. 475p. ISBN 9780763672201. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

Life in Tsarist Russia is hard, harder than most places. For peasants living in hovels in small villages sprinkled in the middle of nowhere, it is even more the case. Elena Rudina has never been outside the boundaries of her village. Now a teen of about 15, she must take care of her sick mother. Her father drowned a few years ago, her younger brother is indentured to the local Baron who has moved to Moscow due to food shortages in the area, and her older brother has just been recruited by the Tsar’s army to dig ditches in St. Petersburg. Elena struggles to survive and find enough food for herself and her mother. Thankfully, old doctor Peter Petrovich provides some humor in an otherwise drab land.

The unexpected always happens, however, and in Russia every peasant knows that despite how bad things are, they can always get worse. When a train pulls in on the disaffected line, Elena’s life irreversibly changes. She meets the Tsar, dressed in a white uniform. But he turns out to be a butler. The train has stopped because the bridge further down the track is out. Onboard is every type of food imaginable, as well as a girl whose looks are very similar to Elena, aside from the fact that she’s an aristocrat. Ekaterina is traveling with her great aunt to St. Petersburg so she can make her debut at the Tsar’s great ball, and even meet the Tsar’s nephew. She carries a Fabergé egg crafted especially for the Tsar.

Through this short stop, Elena and Kat get to know each other a little, but through circumstances they exchange places. Elena now finds herself hurling towards St. Petersburg and the chance to ask the Tsar to release her brother from service so he can return home. Kat, for her part, is left stranded in the middle of nowhere with not enough local lore to be able to survive long in this hostile environment.

Thus begins a most amazing adventure featuring matryoshka dolls, snow soldiers, talking cats, ice dragons, and probably the best character in the book, the famed Baba Yaga, the Russian witch whose house is equipped with chicken legs and travels by itself. Elena, Kat, and Baba Yaga must pull their resources and wits together to solve a danger that threatens the very nature of Mother Russia. A fable with improbable characters, Egg and Spoon takes a train ride through Tsarist Russia exploring some of its myths and legends.

Fans of fantastic fiction will enjoy this book, and should take a look at Far Far Away, a book with similar themes of self discovery.