Bell, Hilari. Traitor’s Son.

Bell, Hilari.  Traitor’s Son.  Houghton Mifflin 250p  $16.99      978-0-547-19621-3  ms/hs            E-BN        Fantasy/Science fiction

This is a sequel to Trickster’s Girl.  Jase is waiting for his father’s client at the Canadian border when shooting breaks out and he dives for cover.  When he raises his head he sees a girl making signs at him, and then she throws something his way.  It looks like a medicine bag!  He just isn’t sure what is inside it.  Jase picks up the client and moves on in his Tesla car.  Since he isn’t sure what is in the bag, he decides not to tell anyone he has it until he figures out what it contains.  He does not want to be accused of drug dealing.

When Raven finds Jase, he thinks he is very lucky, because Raven is a very beautiful Native girl; however, then she shape shifts into a raven, a real one. Jase freaks out, but Raven has tied him down so that he cannot run and has to listen.  When Raven explains who she is and what is in the medicine bag, Jase wants to give it back and forget all about it, but then things get more complicated.  He discovers that he has inherited from his Native culture the ability to dream walk, and he must deal with the great powers of his dreams. Then his grandmother gets stuck in the dream world, and it is up to him to save her, as well as the world of nature, but in order to do that he will need to face his greatest fear.

This is an excellent stand-alone book.  You do not have to read the first book to understand what is happening in the second one.  The author does an excellent job of developing the story independently of Trickster’s Girl, but drops hints that the first book set up possibilities for the second book. 

Native Americans – Fiction, Fantasy – Fiction, Tricksters – Fiction    

n  Magna Diaz

Little Blog on the Prairie

Bell, Cathleen Davitt. Little Blog on the Prairie
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2010 276p 16.99
978-1-59990-286-9 ms/hs Realistic Fiction VG-BN
When Genevieve’s family seeks a closeness that it has lost by booking a vacation on an authentic prairie adventure, the family’s endurance is sorely tested. The climactic fire brings the prairie vacationers together and teaches them the lesson of the importance of community.
In her second book, Cathleen Davitt Bell has given us a unique look at life in 1890, but her characters live in the year 2010. When life has become humdrum for Genevieve’s family, her mother books them into a kind of “Back to the Past” adventure in Wyoming where she will be able to repeat life as she knew it as a child while watching “Little House on the Prairie.” Unbeknownst to her family, Genevieve has sneaked her brand new cell phone to the farm and is texting her friends at home regularly. One by one, new subscribers tap into the blog, and the adventures in Wyoming develop a cult following. The family that runs the farm is authentic, the 3 families that are visiting for the summer are carefully characterized to add spice to the plot, and the adventures which include milking cows, fishing, tree chopping, farming and living the hardships of prairie life are woven into the plot creatively! Things start to fall apart when Genevieve’s cell phone runs out of battery, and she discovers arch nemesis Nora hiding out in a shack, checking E-mail and drinking diet coke. The conflict is exacerbated by Nora’s resentment that, stuck on the prairie with her parents, she has been unable to have a normal life. She rubs Genevieve the wrong way, and the resulting rivalry for handsome camper Caleb threatens the survival of all involved. When the farms’ owners discover the existence of the cell phone, the summer comes to a halt for Genevieve’s family as all must decide between going back to 2010 or staying to complete their “vacation.” If the author had continued in this vein, she would have strengthened her ending. Instead, she brings a news anchor aboard, and the book ends with Nora’s rise to fame as a reality TV show star in a finish that is not as good as the rest of the book! However, the comedy, the plot and the characters are enough to make this book a good read, and the scenes when the farm’s teenagers lament the loss of so many comforts of home are so beautifully written that young readers will be entertained thoroughly.

For middle and high school readers, Little Blog on the Prairie is a wonderful choice! The story line, the language and the relationships are genuine and PG-13. Squaresky(2), Martha
girl reluctantly experiences farm life in 1890

Bell, Joanne. Juggling Fire.

Bell, Joanne. Juggling Fire.
Orca 2009 171p 12.95 978-1-55469-094-7 ms/hs
An Alaskan girl seeks answers to life’s questions. Where did her father go? Why didn’t he return? Can she survive the challenges of the Yukon to try to find her answers? Her quest is unforgettable. Orca Book Publishers has printed the perfect book. As if Orca Soundings had not already provided books for our readers that they cannot put down! In Juggling Fire, Joanne Bell combines poetry, a wonderful story about a relentless search for answers and a family with whom the reader is sure to connect. How she turns a dog named Brooks and a girl named Rachel into protagonists who are both resilient yet vulnerable is a tribute to the author’s writing ability. When Rachel’s father leaves the family due to some undiagnosed emotional disorder, or need to find himself, the family is devastated. However, both the mother and Rachel’s sister move on, mother with her carving and Rachel with her dog sledding and love of animals. Rachel is stuck. She simply cannot accept that her father disappeared, despite the challenges of surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. When she turns of age, she leaves home in search of her father, long accepted dead by authorities. Her adventures, which she endures and survives with her knowledge of life in the Yukon, make the story unforgettable. Using fairy tales, her hobby of juggling, the beauty of the Yukon and her concern for the injured Brooks who has been attacked by a grizzly, Rachel pulls herself together, finds her former home and ends up realizing that her father didn’t just leave them. He was going to come back to his family. Various theories as to his demise are cleverly woven in, yet that is not the focus of this book. Bell’s story is about a quest, and the quest includes a desire for answers, a desire for a new life and a desire for a young girl to find her niche. The descriptions of Alaska are poetic. The writing style is sublime. It is only when Rachel finds her real home and the answer to her quest that all is well again for her. Squaresky, Martha

Slipping. by Cathleen Davitt Bell

Bell, Cathleen Davitt. Slipping.
Bloomsbury see St. Martins, 2008, 215p, $16.99, 978-1-59990-2586

A first novel by Cathleen Davitt Bell, Slipping is an unbelievable masterpiece. It is about relationships and how we allow them to go away. The relationships are between friends, between brother and sister, and between father and son. There is humor, adventure and emotion from cover to cover. Contemporary teen language combines with a protagonist who is real to make a controversial topic like life after death believable. Redemption is possible as we explore a topic that has been studied since the beginning of man.
Slipping blasts the lid off the can of worms that contains the notion of life after death. As Michael slips into and out of the cold river between life and death, pulled there by his recently deceased grandfather, he could die or survive. His love for his grandfather has to be strong enough to help his grandfather come to terms with his own shallow, lonely life and death. Along the way, underachiever Michael pulls others aboard his journey as he navigates the river of the dead. First, he meets Ewan, the pathetic outcast and loner at a small private school in New York City. Ewan’s area of expertise is anything related to ghosts, and he helps Michael understand what is happening to him. Gus is Michael’s soon to be ex-friend. Michael has been feeling Gus pull away for a while, yet is helpless to save the friendship until they are thrown together in a basketball game with the school jock, Tripp. Grandpa steps into Michael to show Michael that he has all of the talent and drive to play ball, and Michael is the hero of the game. After helping his grandfather share his regrets about his loveless last years, Michael almost perishes with his grandfather into a world of permanent death. In a dramatic, perilous ending, Michael is able to save himself with the help of his sister and a few of his friends, and most importantly, his own father.
The subject matter is for a mature teenager or adult who is willing to consider that life is not as we see it. The writing style is fast-paced and engaging. All teenagers, male or female will feel empathy with Michael, a character who is so pathetically compelling that as he weaves his tale, weaves the reader into his web. All teenagers have had an art teacher like Ms. Rosoff, an overachieving sister like Julia, a best friend who has pulled away at times, and a school jock who is characteristically like Tripp. Bell leaves the reader questioning his or her relationships with family and friends as well as acceptance of people for who they are. Just like Michael has his grandfather in his head at unexpected moments, the reader will recall parts of this book for a long time after closing the cover.
This book is best for a mature student in upper middle school or high school. The fantasy/dramatic component of the book makes it too difficult for an immature reader. MS

A Tooth Fairy Book to enjoy

Bell, Nick. Mary the Tooth Fairy.
Red Cygnet Press, 2008. Unp. $15.95 978-1-60108-015-81

The aging tooth fairy with help from Santa Claus, Mother Goose, and the Sandman provide the young tooth fairy in training with all the skills and qualities needed to continue to provide happiness to children around the world. Fantastic illustrations. For PreK-2nd grade.
Bell writes and illustrates this inventive tale of what happens when the aging Tooth Fairy’s skills at flying, sneaking around and stealthily taking teeth from under pillows start to fade.
The illustrations by Bell are intriguing and extend the story. Children can look for recurring characters and read the humorous writing that appears on the Goose-mobile, T-shirts and wall plaques. The interplay of cartoon-like and real-life faces feels just right in this book that is part fantasy, part real life. A first book that is humorous and will enchant young readers believing in The Tooth Fairy. LMN
Red Cygnet Press is a publishing company that searches for and helps first-time children’s book authors have their work published.