Book Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Book: Seraphina
Author: Rachel Hartman
Published: July 10, 2012
Source: review copy from publisher, via NetGalley

A treaty may have ended the devastating human/dragon wars, but it didn't end the enmity between the two species, just forced it beneath the surface. As the fiftieth anniversary of the treaty's signing approaches, a royal prince is murdered, apparently by dragons, and a peace that was fragile to begin with threatens to shatter under the strain.

In the middle of all this is Seraphina Dombegh, the court composer's assistant. She struggles to keep her head down and avoid notice, because anonymity is her only safeguard against the revelation of a devastating secret: she is half-dragon, half-human, and an abomination to both species. Against her best efforts, she keeps finding herself in position and places where she gets noticed, particularly by the good-hearted Princess Glisselda, heir to the throne, and her bastard cousin, Prince Lucian Kiggs, the sharp-eyed and quick-witted head of royal security.

Balanced precariously between her logical dragon side and her emotional human one, Seraphina soon comes to realize that she alone may be the key to keeping this peace . . . or to starting a war.

I read this one way back, and I'm so excited that it's finally being released so I can squeal, "OMYGAW THIS BOOK!" at all my blog readers. I'm not entirely sure I can talk coherently about this book, because there's so much I want to gush over. Seraphina, first. So you know how the Forever Young Adult girls award their BFF charms? I will give all my BFF charms to Seraphina. All of them. Awkward and unsteady in her own skin, yet endlessly practical. Quick on her feet, quick with her wits. I want this girl on my side.

It's quite a trick to write such a fascinating and complex person, much less a second. Lucky for us, Hartman's managed it with Lucian Kiggs. A royal bastard, he's caught inescapably between two worlds, just as Seraphina is, so he has special insight into what makes her tick. While he's occasionally not sure what to make of her, he'll back her up in a split second. Faster. Is there romaaaance? In a bumpy, sneaky, when-did-that-happen kind of way that completely works for these characters, and I'll take that over sparkly-eyed swoons of destiny any day.

I like this one for twisty-turny political fantasy fans, the ones who've finished all of Megan Whalen Turner's books and are begging for more. Beware, though. Give this to them and they will be back within a day, begging for more of Seraphina.

Reaction Post: 2013 Newbery, Printz, and others

So what did I think of the 2013 winners?

Overall, a pretty decent year. No huge surprises, unless you count Wonder's total lack of appearance. I know a lot of people have been loving on that book, but I've been avoiding it. Now that it hasn't won anything, I don't have to read it.

The actual Newbery winner, Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan, is a book I've been hearing good things about, so I'm happy to read that.

Huzzah for Bomb getting three mentions: a Newbery Honor, a Sibert medal for nonfiction for children, and a YALSA medal for nonfiction for teens. In fact, a lot of books ended up on the same two nonfiction lists. Tasha over at Waking Brain Cells pointed out on Twitter that so much of the really good nonfic out there is for grades 6-8, which also happens to be an overlap period for the two age ranges. Hmm. Interesting to think about.

I had never heard of the Printz winner, Nick Lake's Into Darkness. That's not unusual for the Printz - in fact, this is kind of a banner year in that I've read two of the honor books (Dodger, Code Name Verity) and heard of one more (Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe), leaving only one honor and the winner as unknowns.

The other big winner, besides Bomb, was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz, which carried off a Printz honor, the Pura Belpre author award, and the Stonewall award. Someone pointed out that this is the first year a book with Latino characters has won the Stonewall. Initially, I went, "The award is, what, three years old? How is that significant?" And then I researched, and I learned that while it's only been included in the ALA announcements for about three years, it's actually been around since 1971. I am humbled. And yeah, that's big. Congrats, Ben Saenz!

Finally, my personal, "EEEEE!!!" moment? Seraphina winning the Morris Award. You can see how much I loved that book.

(But Bibliovore, what about the books for younger kids?)

(I'm not ignoring those! Go over to Kid Tested, Librarian Approved for the scoop on that.)

Reading Roundup: March 2012

By the Numbers
Teen: 10
Tween: 11
Children: 13

Sources
Review Copies: 10
Purchased: 4
Library: 12

Standouts
Teen: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
I am an evil, evil person for mentioning this because it won't even be out for months. But. I LOVED IT. Dragons and war and politics and adventure and romance and the deeply practical, quick-witted, identity-confused girl at the center of it all. Review closer to publication.
Tween: The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah by Nora Raleigh Baskin
I kept looking for this book because it promised to be about faith and coming of age, two of my particular loves. It brings that, but it's mostly about a girl coming to terms with her beloved grandmother's death and how her faith plays into that.
Children: Keeper by Kathi Appelt
I have a half-written review in my drafts, trying to put my finger on why this book about the Gulf Coast and mothers and cobbled-together families captured my heart. Guys, I don't know why, but it did.

Because I Want To Awards
Why Didn't I Grow Up in New York City?: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithin
Just like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, this book made me long to live in New York. At least over Christmas. Don't talk to me about the rents. This is my fantasyland.
Darker Than I Expected: Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted
Okay, a kid raised in the CIA going to regular school for the first time? Should be laff-a-minute. But with lingering PTSD, a secondary character that's an amputee from the Afghanistan war, and the complicated realization that the way he was raised was completely crazeballs, this is a book with a little more meat on it.
I Love You, David Wiesner: June 29, 1999 by David Wiesner
Yes, this is an older one. I happened across it on my shelves, and I remembered why I'm a David Wiesner fangirl. It leads you blithely in one completely kooky direction, and at the last minute, cuts away and drops the reality (also deliciously kooky) into your lap.
Just Try and Keep It on Your Shelves: If Dinosaurs Lived Today by Dougal Dixon and M.J. Benton
Just for the picture of a bear fighting a dinosaur for a salmon, you need this book. But more, it's a book that posits dinosaurs in our world, speculates on what they'd eat and who'd eat them and how humans would use them. Too, too cool.

2013 Youth Media Awards

John Newbery Medal
for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
(H) Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
(H) Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
(H) Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Randolph Caldecott Medal
for the most distinguished American picture book for children
This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
(H) Creepy Carrots illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds
(H) Extra Yarn, illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett
(H) Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
(H) One Cool Friend illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo
(H) Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue

Michael L. Printz Award
for excellence in literature written for young adults
In Darkness by Nick Lake
(H) Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
(H) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
(H) Dodger by Terry Pratchett
(H) The White Bicycle by Beverly A Brenna

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
for the most distinguished beginning reader book
Up! Tall! and High by Ethan Long
(H) Let's Go for a Drive by Mo Willems
(H) Pete the Cat and HIs 4 Groovy Buttons by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean
(H) Rabbit and Robot: the Sleepover by Cece Bell

Coretta Scott King Awards
for the best book about the African-American experience
Author
Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America by Andrea Davis Pinkney
(H) Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
(H) No Crystal Stair by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Illustrator
I, Too, Am America illustrated by Bryan Collier, written by Langston Hughes
(H) H.O.R.S.E.: a game of basketball and imagination by Christopher Myers
(H) Ellen's Broom illustrated by Daniel Minter, written by Kelly Starling Lyons
(H) I Have a Dream illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Martin Luther King Jr.

Virginia Hamilton Practitioner Award for Lifetime Achievement
Demetria Tucker - Roanoke Public Library system

Schneider Family Book Award
for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience
Picture Book
Back to Front and Upside Down by Claire Alexander
Middle Grade Novel
A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean
Young Adult Novel
Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis

Alex Awards
for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
Caring is Creepy by David Zimmerman
Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman
Juvenile In Justice by Richard Ross
Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
My Friend Dahmer by Derf
One Shot at Forever: a small town, an unlikely coach, and a magical baseball season by Chris Ballard
Pure by Juliana Baggott
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

Andrew Carnegie Medal
for excellence in children's video
Anna, Emma, and the Condors by Green Planet Films

Margaret A. Edwards Award
for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
Tamora Pierce (specifically for the Song of the Lioness series and the Protector of the Small Quartet)

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award
recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site
Andrea Davis Pinkney

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal
for substantial and lasting contributions to literature for children
Katherine Paterson 

Mildred L. Batchelder Award
for an outstanding children's book translated from a language other than English and subsequently published in the United States
My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve, translated by Tammi Reichel
(H) A Game for Swallows: to die, to leave, to return by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin
(H) Son of a Gun by Anne de Graaf

Odyssey Award
best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults
The Fault in Our Stars written by John Green, read by Kate Rudd

Pura Belpre Awards
For the best books about the Latino cultural experience
Author
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
(H) The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano
Illustrator
Martin de Porres: the rose in the desert illustrated by David Diaz, written by Gary D. Schmidt
Robert F. Sibert Medal
for most distinguished informational book for children
Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
(H) Electric Ben: the amazing life and times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd
(H)  Moonbird: a year on the wind with the great survivor B95 by Philip M Hoose
(H) Titanic: voices from the disaster by Deborah Hopkinson

Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award
Books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
(H) Drama by Raina Telgemeier
(H) Gone Gone Gone by Hannah Moskowitz
(H) October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepherd by Leslea Newman
(H) Sparks: the epic, completely true blue, (almost) holy quest of Debbie by SJ Adams

William C. Morris Award
for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
(F) Wonder Show by Hannah Rodgers Barnaby
(F) Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
(F) After the Snow by S.D. Crockett
(F) The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year.
Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
(F) Steve Jobs: the man who thought different by Karen Blumenthal
(F) Moonbird: a year on the wind with the great survivor B95 by Philip M Hoose
(F) Titanic: voices from the disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
(F) We've Got a Job: the 1963 Birmingham children's march by Cynthia Levinson