A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

I would not stand by and let them be lost to the Mede or to Melenze or to an endless civil war where they would never be free of bloodshed until the whole country was stripped to the bare bones. If I couldn't be Eddis, I would be Attolia.

[Click here to see my review of book 1: The Thief, book 2: The Queen of Attolia, and book 3: The King of Attolia.]

Though finishing a series tends to be a tad bittersweet, one must admit that it brings a lovely feeling of accomplishment when you sit back, happily aware that you've read all there is to read when it comes to this particular storyline and these particular characters.

I deeply enjoyed the entire Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner and I finally brought myself around to reading the conclusion. For all my talk of the greatness of finishing a series, there's also a finality that makes me realize how much I'll miss these characters and these stories. I tend to put as much space between the second to last book and the final one as I can plausibly get away with.

When Sophos, heir to the throne of Sounis, and friend of both the queen of Eddis and the king of Attolia, is attacked in his own village and whisked away to an unknown destination, he manages to weasel his way out of the hands of his captors. However, he soon finds himself a slave on the lands of the very man who ordered his kidnapping. Rendered unrecognizable, he settles into this life, believing it would be best for him to leave the running of Sounis to his uncle. After all, Sophos had never been a very promising heir. He cared too much for his poetry and too little for strategy or battle.

Still, Sophos left much unfinished when he was taken from his home. His sisters and mother may have died in the attack, but there were others who held his heart and a rebellion rising that threatens to overthrow Sounis and leave it vulnerable to the Medes, a country that's been trying to get a foothold in Sounis (along with its neighboring countries) for a time now and is still licking its wounds from being so heartily deterred by Attolia.

When his father comes under attack in the very home that Sophos has been laboring under, Sophos brings himself out of obscurity to save his father and his men. But much has changed since the day that Sophos was taken and he is no longer heir to the throne, but is now king himself. It is his task to save his country and he's going to have to turn to an old friend if he will ever manage to accomplish it. But will the king of Attolia aid him in his quest to save his people, or will Gen prove to be more difficult than he's ever been before?

The most recent installment in what fans of the series are calling "The Queen's Thief" series, A Conspiracy of Kings was (as you can probably see from the summary) told from the perspective of Sophos. It's fun seeing the kid grow up and become and entity and a threat in his own right. Sophos is a fun character and one that the reader can really identify with. While Gen, the subject of the first three books, was always a joy to read, I loved how different Sophos was from him. He was much more afraid, less cunning, but just as clever. I really enjoyed getting to see Megan Whalen Turner write such a different character in this series while still making us love both of our main protagonists.

All of that said, I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as I did the first three. Perhaps it was simply the way the tale played out. Most of this book was a sort of "leading up to" the main event, while in Gen's stories, they tended to be lots of little main events that led up to a big main event.

I greatly enjoyed the book, I just didn't enjoy it as much as its predecessors, I suppose. It's just not my favorite book in the series. I greatly look forward to the next book in this series. I want to know what happens to the dear friends we've been introduced to throughout these books. I have no doubts that Turner will blow us out of the water with the fifth installment (though we have no idea when it's coming out yet).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

"He proved me wrong. Either because he can see what we can't or just because he demands the world conform to his own desires. I am never sure which it is that he does." 

Girl in a Cage by Jane Yolen & Robert J. Harris

"If my father's kingdom is a cage, then my cage will be a kingdom," I declare. "It is not I who am locked in, but you who are locked out."

The first book I decided to crack open for Reread November was Girl in a Cage. I can't remember exactly how old I was when I bought this book at a school book fair, but I believe I was in late elementary school (proved true by the fact that the few "bad" words in the book, such as bastard and damn, have been scratched out by my preadolescent self).

I was quite a sucker for historical fiction in my late elementary and middle school years, particularly when it came to European history, so this was right up my alley then. Now, as you can probably tell, I've expanded my reading a bit, though I still stick mostly to YA fiction, but I still carry that fondness for stories that can be woven around truth, giving the reader a new perspective on events that once took place. There's something truly fascinating about being able to give a story that extra substance through the sharing of true events.

In Girl in a Cage, we are introduced to Marjorie, daughter to Robert the Bruce and eleven year-old princess of Scotland. When Majorie first learned that she was to become a princess, she could think only of the splendor of living in a castle and being arrayed in finery. Now she sits in a cage in the middle of an English town, exposed to the elements and the jeers of the townspeople, visited almost daily by King Edward Longshanks, whose sole purpose in life seems to be tormenting her. A few months ago, she would have never seen this coming.

England, who has long been in control of Scotland, wages battle against Robert the Bruce and his followers in Scotland. Marjorie is a hostage in this war, as are many of the female members of her family, including the new queen of Scotland, Marjorie's stepmother.

In her captivity, Marjorie must leave childhood behind and seek the strength and bravery that her father has taught her to possess. She must draw on her belief in who she is and the love of her country to preserve her, even as the English king seeks to test her loyalty to the father she so dearly loves. Marjorie clings to her hope of rescue, her hope of seeing her father and her beloved country once more. But the will of Longshanks has taken the life of more than one person she holds dear, will it claim hers as well?

I really enjoyed getting the chance to revisit a book I so enjoyed in my childhood and was glad to see I hadn't been deceived in its virtue. It's quite a good book and it isn't just sentimentality that leads me to that conclusion. Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris do a lovely job at filling the story with convincing details, touching moments, and creating a princess worthy of the title that inspires the reader through every page, even in her faults.

This book has a lot to teach young teens and children about bravery and the act of loyalty without being preachy or uninteresting. It's an enthralling story with a good deal of merit. I would especially suggest it for those children just entering the YA world and need something of substance, but whose contents aren't overly mature for their understanding. Yet I would still venture to suggest it to older teens and adults, because there's always plenty for us to learn, particularly when it comes to courage and loyalty.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ 

"Oh, feeling has nothing to do with it, Marjorie. It is not a feeling hot or cold, dry or wet. Brave is how you behave."
"Then I did not behave bravely, Father," I admitted. "it was Elizabeth who--"
He stopped me with a finger on his lips. "Elizabeth told how brave you were," he said.
I yawned. "I just did what I was told."
"Sometimes that is all that courage is," he said. "Just doing what you know you have to do."

Crusade in Jeans by Thea Beckman

"No," cried Rudolf. "It can't be true! It is a nightmare. Soon I will wake up. A children's crusade! It is just too ridiculous. It is unthinkable. Crusades are for men; for knights on horseback, in coats of armor. Not for children!" 

Crusade in Jeans is a fictional children's book originally written in Dutch by its author, Thea Beckman. After having seen the movie adaptation a few years ago, I found that it was a book and had been translated to English. Of course, I had to get my hands on it.

In her book, Beckman tells the story of a fifteen-year-old boy named Rudolf (Dolf) who convinces two scientist friends of his father to send him back in time with a time travel machine they have created. Dolf lands near the city of Spiers in the kingdom of Germany.

When his return to his own century goes terribly wrong, Dolf is stranded in the thirteenth century and ends up stumbling upon a children's crusade. Eight thousand children from Germany and its neighboring lands are on a march to conquer the Holy Land after a shepherd boy named Nicolas claims he has been told by God that he will part the sea for them and the Seracens will flee before their innocence.

As he watches the procession move by, though, he sees that the children are in terrible shape. They are malnourished and sick, they are literally dropping dead at the back of the procession or falling behind. Some were being picked off by wild animals, others by slavers and kidnappers. Dolf and his new friend, Leonardo, decide they must act and both join the crusade, quickly calling for a reform in the way things are done. They take responsibility for the welfare of the children and quickly rise in the ranks of the assembled.

Clearly these children believe the call to which Nicolas has urged them, but Dolf doubts he will be able to part the sea and suspects the two monks who are also helping to lead the procession are frauds. There  is something that isn't right about this entire ordeal, both Dolf and Leonardo agree, and they are keeping their eyes peeled in order to discover what is actually going on here.

In the meantime, though, they have other worries to attend to. The journey is long and the path is fraught with perils. Wild animals such as wolves and bears lurk in the darkness about them and not all kidnappers are dissuaded by the sheer number of the pilgrims. Then there is food and shelter to worry about. The question is: can they even make it to the sea at all?

This book was so much better than I could have anticipated it. As much as I enjoyed the movie, much like Eragon, I have to say that is a mockery in comparison to the book. I don't think I would be able to watch it again without being sorely disappointed in how far it deviates from the true story. Not to mention, Dolf is so much better in the text. In the movie, he was irritating and not nearly as smart as he is meant to be.

Honestly, the only problem I have with Crusade in Jeans is its opening. I have a very hard time believing any scientist would honestly be so irresponsible and stupid enough to send a fifteen-year-old back in time in their PROTOTYPE material-transmitter. Yes, they've had success in the past, but that is just ridiculous. Also there was the whole bit where Dolf seemed to keep "finding" things in his pockets that later became useful. It only happened about three times, but I still found myself irritated. He would have known from the beginning that he had those things in his pockets. He wouldn't have forgotten about them for a period of weeks when he was wearing the same pair of jeans the entire time.

Beyond that, though, it was excellently crafted and incredibly believable. Beckman had a firm grasp on the trials and issues that would have come up during such a trek and I found myself on the edge of my seat through the entire thing, eager to find out what would happen next. I would definitely suggest this book for a good read.

Though it is technically children's fiction, I would like to add that there are some dark themes in here. I would say it is good for 10+ would be a better age range. There is a good deal of death that might be scary for a small child and some religious themes that they may be too young to grapple with (Medieval Christianity vs. Modern Atheism).

It is historical fiction as well, however, and these are themes that ought to be considered at an older age. Beyond that, I was surprised at how many people I know had no knowledge of the children's crusades and that they were actually a historical event in the thirteenth century. It is a part of history that we ought not forget, as with most of our world's history, for fear of reoccurrence. I thought it was a good choice for Beckman to choose a historical event that ought to have more light shed upon it and use it as the center of her storyline.

All in all, I adored this book and am glad to have it upon my shelf. I bought it on Amazon after not being able to find it anywhere else and I treasure it fondly.

Rating: ~ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ~

"Now you ask me if I believe in miracles. My friend, I am experiencing nothing else."

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit

The sweet earth opened out its wide four corners to her like the petals of a flower ready to be picked and it shimmered with light and possibility till she was dizzy with it.

The movie version of Tuck Everlasting was one of those stories I should have known originated in a book somewhere, but never really considered until a friend of mine was telling me I ought to read it. Naturally, when I saw it on the shelf at my local Half Price Books, I had to purchase it. And it was a worth purchase.

Tuck Everlasting is a children's fiction book following the story of a ten-year-old girl named Winnifred Foster. Winnie feels trapped in her home and yearns to venture into the forest at it's edge. It's when she finally does that she stumbles upon the Tuck family -- a family that guards a dangerous secret.

This secret is the secret to everlasting life, but as Angus Tuck explains to her, everlasting life isn't really life at all. The Tucks kidnap her to explain this and convince her that the secret is worth keeping. But things grow even more complicated when a man who has been searching for the Tucks and the water that bears this everlasting life since he first heard the stories of their existence as a child and he's not going to let anything get in his way.

A wonderful, easy read for all ages. This is one I'll definitely be suggesting for my sister to read to her girls (ages 4 and 2) and anyone else who would enjoy it. The plot is well-written and the descriptions within prove to be breathtaking on more than one instance. This story was quite worth the $3 I dished out for it.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

"But dying's part of the wheel right there next to being born. You can't pick out the pieces you like and leave the rest. Being part of the whole thing, that's the blessing. But it's passing us by, us Tucks. Living's heavy work, but off to one side, the way we are, it's useless too. It don't make sense. If I knowed how to climb back on the wheel, I'd do it in a minute. You can't have living without dying. So you can't call it living, what we got."

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

"She decided that the first step would be to get him to untie her. Poor blindy, that's what she had to make him think. Once she could use her hands, she could find a phone. Or a weapon. She could even take her cane and run away as soon as it was dark. She longed for it to be nighttime, when she would be more than a sighted person's equal."


Girl, Stolen by April Henry is the story of two teenagers. The first is Cheyenne Wilder. Blind and sick with pneumonia, she opts to stay in the car when her stepmother goes into the store to retrieve her prescription, leaving her in the back with the car on. This is when the second teenager shows up in the form of Griffin. He sees the keys in the ignition and thinks it'll be an easy car theft. He didn't mean to steal a girl too. He panics and takes her back to his father, Roy, hoping to release her somewhere that night so she could go home and he wouldn't be blamed for the kidnapping. But Roy has different plans. When he finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of Nike, he has new plans for the girl.

A very original, well-written plot with believable and (especially in Cheyenne's case) strong characters, Girl, Stolen was a pleasure to read. April Henry's character development is well-rounded and seeing the entire ordeal from the eyes of both Griffin and Cheyenne is amazing. Not only does it cover the current situation, but we get to see those memories and experiences that made them who they are. For Cheyenne, we see the accident that made her blind and how she learned to deal with the disability. For Griffin, we learn how his father's disregard for him put him in the hospital as a child and permanently scarred his body. Nothing is simple or easy for the two of them and they are each about to have to make some decisions that could save their lives or culminate in their deaths.

This was a great read that had me hooked from the start. In fact, one of my friends was so amused by my reactions to the book (I tend to respond vocally to scenes in books in movies) that he immediately asked to borrow it when I was done. It's definitely worth checking out.


Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


"It was easier to think about her being blind than it was about what to do now. Griffin wished his life was like one of the computers at his old school, that he could just make a few clicks and restore things to the way they had been five minutes before he spotted the keys dangling from the Escalade's ignition. Instead, he had made one impulsive decision after another, and now he was stuck with the results."