During the past 12 months, science fiction made a comeback in children’s books. Nancy Farmer wrote House of the Scorpion, which won a National Book Award; William Sleator came out with Parasite Pig, the long-awaited sequel to his popular Interstellar Pig (1984); and Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher teamed up to bring us two volumes in the Fire-us series, The Kindling and Keepers of the Flame. Unfortunately, there are not yet enough titles to fill a Top 10 Science Fiction list. Fantasy, however, continues to thrive and below are the best of the many that were reviewed in Booklist during the past year. —Sally Estes
Barker, Clive. Abarat. 2002. illus. HarperCollins, $24 (0-06-028092-1).
Gr. 7–12. Teenage Candy Quackenbush of Chickentown, Minnesota, journeys to her destiny in a whimsical, multilayered, quirkily illustrated adventure that embraces the lands of Oz, Wonderland, Narnia, and even Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin. At the Crossing Places. 2002. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, $17.95 (0-439-26598-3).
Gr. 5–8. The sequel to The Seeing Stone (2001) involves crossing places in time, in space, and even within characters as it alternates events in the life of 13-year-old Arthur, growing up in 1300, who is strangely linked to the legendary Arthur who pulled the sword from the stone.
De Lint, Charles. Waifs and Strays. 2002. Viking, $17.99 (0-670-03584-X).
Gr. 7–12. A showcase for the diversity of a popular fantasy writer, this collection includes 16 stories that evoke a sense of magic just beyond the ordinary world, whether in Ottawa; Bordertown; or the made-up city of Newton, somewhere in North America.
Hoffman, Mary. Stravaganza: City of Masks. 2002. Bloomsbury, $16.95 (1-58234-791-3).
Gr. 7–12. In this artful time-slip story, a twenty-first-century English teenager being treated for cancer finds himself in Belleza, a city that exists in a parallel dimension to sixteenth-century Venice, where he becomes involved in mystical and political intrigue.
Hunter, Erin. Into the Wild. 2003. HarperCollins, $15.99 (0-06-000002-3).
Gr. 6–9. Hunter’s thoroughly engrossing book, first in the Warriors series, features an orange tomcat, who wanders into the forest, becomes an apprentice ThunderClan warrior, and faces great danger and treachery after one of the four clans of wild cats that have shared the forest for generations threatens the rest.
Jacques, Brian. Triss. 2002. Putnam/Philomel, $23.99 (0-399-23723-2).
Gr. 5–8. Jacques maintains the high standards of his Redwall series in this tale of the young squirrel Triss who takes up Martin the Warrior’s famous sword in a terrifying battle.
Jarvis, Robin. Thorn Ogres of Hagwood. 2002. Harcourt/Silver Whistle, $16 (0-15-216752-8).
Gr. 5–8. Jarvis is a master of atmospheric fantasy as evidenced not only by his Depford Mice Trilogy but also by this tale of heroic young Werling, who proves steadfast when his shape-shifting, Hobbit-like people are attacked by the cruel High Lady after her bloody ascent to the throne of Hollow Hill.
Jordan, Sherryl. The Hunting of the Last Dragon. 2002. HarperCollins, $15.95 (0-06-028902-3).
Gr. 6–10. In a rich and lovely combination of fantasy, historical fiction, and romance, Jude, a young, illiterate peasant in fourteenth-century England, discovers that his destiny is to kill the last dragon, which has been terrorizing the people of St. Alfric’s Cove.
McKinley, Robin and Dickinson, Peter. Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits. 2002. Putnam, $18.99 (0-399-23796-8).
Gr. 7–12. These six mesmerizing stories, three from each writer, are steeped in the lore of merfolk and creatures of the sea. The themes, characters, and writing styles may be different, but the tales fit so nicely together that the book will be hard to put down.
Nix, Garth. Abhorsen. 2003. HarperCollins, $17.99 (0-06-027825-0).
Gr. 7–12. Following Sabriel (1996) and Lirael (2001), this beautifully rendered, tension-filled sequel continues the adventures of Lirael, the Abhorsen in Waiting, and Sameth, Sabriel’s son, as they battle the Destroyer and his evil minions, who are working to wreak havoc on the world.
(Booklist/April 15, 2003)