Right about this time of year is when the craziness peaks and simplifying lures. Those uber-organized January magazine covers feel particularly jarring when you’re waiting in a Target line approximately 43 people long.
Here’s one way to get a dose of simple right now: Switch your gift list to books. Sure, I may be biased, but come March, your kids will still be enjoying the below titles … and that beeping/plastic/batteries-required toy given by a kid-less uncle will have already “disappeared.”
Swashbuckling Will Scarlet is ready to storm the battlements of Shackley Castle to secure its riches. Will doesn’t want the money for himself, though, but to right a wrong perpetrated against his family. Former comics author Matthew Cody casts a lesser-known Merry Man as the lead in “Will in Scarlet” (Random House, $16.99), a re-telling of the Robin Hood legend full of rip-stop action and ideal for reluctant middle-grade readers. (Ages 8-12)
Hilary Westfield is ready for some swashbuckling of her own. In part due to her reported ability to tread water for 37 minutes, she’s offered an apprenticeship to “The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates” (HarperCollins, $16.99). But when Hilary notes that she’s a she, the League rescinds its offer, forwarding her application to the fusty Miss Pimm’s Finishing School for Delicate Ladies. Undaunted and accompanied by a talking gargoyle, Hilary escapes Miss Pimm’s and takes her skills to the high seas in the hunt for treasure in Caroline Carlson’s gently feminist, never preachy adventure. (Ages 8-12)
It’s the first day of second grade, and Billy Miller is worried he won’t measure up. His biggest decisions? Should he start calling his Papa “Dad” in public (more grown-up)? What’s the best way to give his new teacher, Ms. Silver, the silver things he’s collected that are just like her name? So begins “The Year of Billy Miller” (HarperCollins/Greenwillow, $16.99), critically acclaimed and award-winning Kevin Henkes’ newest. “Miller” is notable for its pitch-perfect showcasing of the everyday; new chapter-book readers will no doubt see themselves in Henkes’ chronicling of diorama creations and annoying younger sisters. (Ages 8-12)
The vampires in Holly Black’s “The Coldest Girl in Coldtown” (Hachette, $19) are a far cry from the brooding swoon-worthy immortals populating the post-“Twilight” vamp-lit genre. These infected creatures are discussed on documentaries, have a Twitter feed and have been warehoused into Coldtowns for the safety of the uninfected. At 10, Tana lost her mother to the infection; at 17, she finds herself braving the horrors of Coldtown to save one of her own. Black, the co-creator of “Spiderwick Chronicles,” has written a creepy, scary and thoroughly modern vampire tale. (Ages 14 and up)
The prolific Andrea Cremer killed off many of the characters in her New York Times best-selling “Nightshade” series in 2012’s “Bloodrose.” This month, she returns to that world with the densely plotted “Snakeroot” (Penguin/Philomel, $18.99), which follows some of the key Searchers left as they redefine their mission in the wake of evil Bosque Mar’s banishment. Cremer, a frequent visitor to Austin, returns to BookPeople Feb. 15 as part of her launch tour. (Ages 12 and up)
Realistic fiction still holds thrall when the author is the likes of Diana Lopez, a South Texan who weaves the richness of Mexican-American culture into her novels. “Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel” (Little, Brown, $17) centers on Erica “Chia” Montenegro, who needs the titular jewelry to keep track of the seesaw emotions she’s feeling in this summer before eighth grade. There’s jealousy of her younger sister’s smarts, yearning over her Boyfriend Wish List and worry over her mother, who’s been diagnosed with breast cancer. Though not every family would visit a cuarto de milagros, or miracle room, many tweens will be familiar with the “If only” bargains with God that Chia makes in hopes of changing her circumstances. (Ages 8-12)
“The Tiny King” (Candlewick, $14.99) is powerful, but he’s very lonely — living solo in a huge castle, eating his meals privately at a gargantuan table and sleeping alone in a massive bed. But when he meets a giant princess, suddenly his house fills with life. Taro Miura’s paean to the joys of family, newly translated for American picture-book readers, features arresting collage art that will dazzle your preschooler (and make you wonder if the king’s castle was inspired by the “Small World” Disneyland ride). (Ages 3 and up)
Yes, Randi Zuckerberg is related to that other Zuckerberg, of Facebook fame. So that makes her debut picture book, “Dot” (HarperCollins, $17.99) all the more intriguing. Dot is a sprightly little girl who loves to tweet and tag, surf and swipe … online, that is. But when her mother sends her outside, Dot’s world expands exponentially, as she remembers that real-life tag can be a lot more fun than sitting in front of a screen. This is one book that absolutely does not belong on a Kindle. (Ages 4-8)
Sharyn Vane’s column on children’s books appears monthly; swizda@austin.rr.com or (512) 632-8347
About the Author
