Book Drops: Ash by Malinda Lo

Ash by Malinda Lo.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-04009-9

Ash, by Malinda Lo, is a retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale. Just like the original fairytale, Ash is orphaned by her parents and comes to live with an uncaring, cruel stepmother and 2 stepsisters. There are also fairies, magic and a kingdom with an eligible prince. However, Lo alters the tale and Ash is not the sweet Disney Cinderella that a lot of us know her as. Ash is a little tougher, a bit more outspoken, and is not searching for that love from her stepmother that we see played out in so many versions of Cinderella.

After the death of her mother, Ash stumbles upon the world of fairies. Growing up in the country, Ash and her village still practice the old ways, which still acknowledges the magic in the world. As she copes with her mother's death, Ash is drawn more and more towards this alternate world. She meets a fairy prince, Sidhean, and though he pushes her away, she continues to try to find her way back to the fairies.

Shortly after her mother's death, Ash's father falls ill and dies. After this, Ash's tale follows that of the original Cinderella story, and becomes the servant to her stepmother and stepsisters. During, this time, she has a chance meeting with the King's Huntress, Kaisa, whom she admires and soon becomes infatuated by.

As time goes on, Ash, becomes torn by her love of the Sidhean and her growing love for Kaisa. Whom will she choose? Death or Life?

This story is similar to the Mystic and Rider series by Sharon Shinn. It is a great story and an interesting take on Cinderella. Definitely, worth reading.

Book Drops: The Last Airbender: The Promise Pt. 1 by Gene Luen Yang, et. al.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise Part 1. By Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko. Art by Gurihiru. Dark Horse Comics. ISBN: 9781595828118. Feb 2012

My friends, Headphonerecord and Daku, introduced me to the Avatar series shown on Nickelodean. I spent a good couple of days watching each episode back-to-back. So, you can imagine my excitement when I saw that the galley was available on NetGalley.
The Avatar team does not disappoint in the next installment of the series. We left off with Aang ending the war, but we were left wondering, what happens next and that is where these new tales begin. Aang knows that he has not completed his task, he must also bring peace to the 4 nations. He volunteers, with the help of Kataara, Sokka and Toph, to help transition the people of the nations to an era of peace and harmony. However, the new Fire Lord, Zuko, is struggling with what that means and discovers that this move, is not as simple as it appears to be.
If you love the Avatar series or not, this is a great beginning to a new adventure with Aang and the gang. Also, Momo and Apa are back and you know, I love those characters!

Nonfiction Mondays: "Who Was First?" By Russell Freedman

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!!! I hope, people are out braving this weather in L.A. Here are the events happening in L.A. and around L.A. If you can't head to the Kingdom Day Parade, you can watch it on Channel 7.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...Nonfiction Mondays!!!

Shelf-employed reviewed Russell Freedman's Who Was First? Discovering the Americas (audio version) last week on the Round-Up at Whispers at Dawn and I picked this up as well. I thought I would have time to read another one but grades are due in a week!

This is a great look at who discovered the Americas and is also perfect for middle schools. Freedman starts by mentioning old legends and tales about the Americas before Columbus, the one we all know about. He then writes about Christopher Columbus and works backward exploring China's history with exploration and their famous seafarer Sin-Bao (Admiral Zheng He). He delves into the Vikings discovery of parts of Canada with a chapter devoted to Leif the Lucky. Then moves to those who were already in the Americas. This book is filled with amazing map reproductions, like the Waldseemuller map of 1507, images from archeological digs, and archival images. He also mentions important historians and archeologists, like Anne Stine and Helge Ingstad, who discovered the Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in Canada and Gavin Menzies, who studies Chinese explorers and was also viewed as a somewhat questionable source at times. This is such a fascinating book and is filled with so much information! It made me want to visit all these different sites he mentions to see gigantic statues in Guatemala or the L'Anse aux Meadows. Freedman also writes a little bit on the new technological tools being used to determine the age of pieces discovered. I highly recommend this book - it's got everything - history, drama, adventure, new technology - if you don't have this in your library, you should certainly order it.