October 2003

At the Crossing Places, by Kevin Crossley-Holland. The second book of a brilliant Arthurian trilogy. Two Arthurs: a boy in medieval England, and the legendary King, or are they really one and the same? Crossley-Holland is a fine poet and a crackerjack storyteller, to my mind, an unsurpassable combination in a novelist. Read The Seeing Stone first.

Tears of the Salamander, by Peter Dickinson. I'd follow Dickinson anywhere in his fiction; in this case, to Italy via a fantasy set on Mount Etna. A young chorister unravels the mystery of his own family's history. I loved the way Dickinson uses music as the central motif, I could hear it as I read.

Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going. Fat kid, rock band, terrific voice in the novel itself, that is; the fat kid doesn't sing. He's the new drummer in a band led by his charismatic and troubled friend. Writers: Are you working on a first-person narrative? This is how it's done. Contemporary YA.

Visit K.L. Going's terrific website at www.klgoing.com (Click on "Non-Lame Stuff," and then "Games," and try the Reflex Tester. It will drive you crazy.)

From my summer list:

Ruby Electric, by Theresa Nelson. Ruby lives in LA and thinks in screenplays (perfect use of a structural device to reflect character). She has family problems and friend problems, like any 12-year-old, but she also has an unusual interest in the urban ecology of her concrete-bound neighborhood. Contemporary midgrade.

Adult reading:

Best American Science Writing 2003, ed. by Oliver Sacks. Every one of these articles or essays a gem.