What a great book! Although this is the third book in the Tiffany Aching Adventures you needn’t worry about reading the other two first; Wintersmith will keep you smiling as you learn about the adventures, or should I say “misadventures”, of young Tiffany Aching.
“At 9, Tiffany Aching defeated the cruel Queen of Fairyland. At 11, she banished an ancient body-stealing evil. At 13, Tiffany faces a new challenge: a boy. And boys can be a bit of a problem when you're thirteen . . . .
“But the Wintersmith isn't exactly a boy. He is Winter itself—snow, gales, icicles—all of it. When he has a crush on Tiffany, he may make her roses of ice, but his nature is blizzards and avalanches. And he wants Tiffany to stay in his gleaming, frozen world. Forever.
“Tiffany will need all her cunning to make it to Spring. She'll also need her friends, from junior witches to the legendary Granny Weatherwax. They—Crivens! Tiffany will need the Wee Free Men, too! She'll have the help of the bravest, toughest, smelliest pixies ever to be banished from Fairyland—whether she wants it or not. It's going to be a cold, cold season, because if Tiffany doesn't survive until Spring—Spring won't come.
Terry Pratchett’s British humor and quick wit will keep you laughing as you race through the fast paced fantasy adventure in all three of the Tiffany Aching adventures: The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith. Once you start the first book, you will want to read all three! Check them out from Wright Memorial Public Library in print or audio books today!
Rossamund Bookchild is an orphan living at Madam Opera's Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls, where instructors prepare the orphans for careers as sailors or other occupations. Just when Rossamund thinks he has been passed over for this year’s careers, a leer arrives and hires him as a "lamplighter" for the Emperor. The leer instructs Rossamund to go to the wharf and board the Rapunzel early the next morning. On the wharf, he is tricked by an unsavory captain and ends up kidnapped onto a stinking boat involved in illegal activities. Rossamund escapes but now must hide or risk being taken into custody and charged with the same crimes as the crew. Rossamund is discovered by a famous monster-slayer named Europe, who's had surgery on her internal organs so she can zap monsters with electricity from her body. Society scorns anyone who suggests sympathy for the monsters that lurk everywhere; however, Rossamund begins to wonder whether they're all really bad. Rossamund, timid and prone to tears, must rely on himself and decide whom to trust. This first book of the "Monster Blood Tattoo" series ends with Rossamund entering into his Lamplighter training.
Deanna has a reputation at her California high school, and it’s not a good one. Because of a widely known incident that happened to her three years ago when she was thirteen, she’s been labeled the school slut. While the incident is true, many of the circulating versions are not. In fact, Deanna hasn’t even been with another boy since. There’s lots of hard stuff in her life: her dad has never forgiven her for the incident, her mother is stressed, and her only friends, Jason and Lee, have begun dating. But she does have her writing, and her brother and baby niece, April, who live with her brother’s girlfriend in the basement of their house. This emotionally spot-on book takes a girl many people feel justified in judging, then undermines all expectations, so that as readers we understand her and root for her as she reorients her life. This National Book Award finalist novel also delves into the trials and healing that surround forgiveness. Ages 13 and up.
Sophie has an unusual family. Her goofy Great-Aunt Dika is a refugee from Bosnia. Her stepdad, Juan, is a Mexican immigrant, and occasionally he’s called to help Mexicans crossing into the US. On one occasion, they bring home a Mexican child, Pablo, orphaned as his parents crossed the border into Arizona. Sixteen-year-old Sophie is a loner at school, loves to read The Little Prince and poetry, and is afraid of everything, from germs in the kitchen sponge to car wrecks. But she loves the solemn Pablo, accepts his need to sleep outside near the chicken coop, and even joins him there. Everyone is surprised when Sophie agrees to go on a potentially frightening trip to Mexico to take Pablo back to his village and choose where he wants to live. Joining her on the adventurous trip are Dika, Mr. Lorenzo, Dika’s Guatemalan boyfriend, and most interesting of all, Angel, his handsome teenage son, who is carrying a mysterious box. On the trip, Sophie confronts her fears by taking a loving but dangerous risk. Red Glass is a moving, beautifully written book about courage. Ages 12 and up.
