The Scorpion Queen

Fears, Mina. The Scorpion Queen. 2025. 320p. ISBN 9781250392350.

Amie, a young woman from a wealthy Timbuktu family in Renaissance Mali. Her older sister was accused of an improper relationship with a noble, and rejected the blame on Amie. As a result, Amie suffers a tragic fall from grace. Disinherited by her angry father, and separated from her sister, Amie is forced to serve Princess Mariama in the imperial palace almost as a slave, as all of her wages are to be paid to her father, and not to her. Amie will never again see the boy she loves, Kader.

Princess Mariama is also a prisoner in her own palace. Her father, the Emperor of Mali, has devised a series of deadly trials for her suitors. Designed to weed the nobility of its sons, the trials have resulted in ninety-nine deaths. Despite the hardships and the princess's volatile personality, Amie and Mariama form an unexpected bond. When Amie discovers a map that leads them to the desert and to the home of one of the exiled gods, who could provide a hammer that would end the trial once and for all, she devises a desperate plan to escape the palace with Kader and two other maids, and make their way to the desert and retrieve the hammer. Only then will the trial end, freeing Mariama from her father's control, and allowing Amie and Kader to live happily every after.

Only, things don't go according to plan. Caught by the god after suffering in the desert, Amie makes a startling discovery. Faced with a difficult choice, Amie must decide for whom she is fighting, and whether the effort is worth it. 

The Scorpion Queen is inspired by a Malian folktale, and features a strong character with divided loyalties. Amie often makes the wrong decision for the right reasons, adding to her challenges. Family dynamics and rebellion are also explored as Amie attempts to reassert control over her own life. Fans of fantasy with a touch of light magic will appreciate this story told from a perspective we are not familiar with, but will enjoy the universal themes of betrayal and love.

The Puppets of Spelhorst.

DiCamillo, Kate. The Puppets of Spelhorst. 160p. ISBN 9781536216752.

Walking in town one day, an old salty captain saw five puppets in the window of a toy shop. There was a girl, a boy, a king, a wolf, and an owl. He immediately felt the need to purchase the girl puppet. When the owner told him he must buy all five, the captain relented and agreed. The girl puppet reminded him of a girl he had once been in love with. Placing these puppets in his trunk, the old captain soon died, and his puppets found their way to a family with young children.

The king always loved to order everyone else around, for what is a king supposed to do? The girl loved to sing, but she only knew one song. The boy knew he was destined to be a hero, for why else would he have a bow and a quiver filled with arrows? The wolf was very impressed with her sharp teeth, and she knew everyone should be scared of her. The owl was filled with wisdom, but longed to fly the skies. As the puppets discovered their new home, they also found new desires and developed new relationships and understandings with each other. Each of them realizes that they are part of a story, and despite their ups and downs together, they belong with each other. The two girls who now own the puppets craft a play they perform in front of their family. In this play, the puppets end up acting the story of a young man who is cursed by a wizard to lose the love of his life, and who looks for her the rest of his life, in a story that resembles that of the old sea captain.

Beautifully told, the story of the puppets resemble folk tales, with bigger than life characters who discover themselves during their adventures, even if they are only puppets. Wherever we found ourselves on the road of life, we can always trust that we will find friends along the road.

Silver in the Bone

 Bracken, Alexandra. Silver in the Bone. Book 1 of the Silver in the Bone series. 2023. 480p. ISBN 9780593481653.

Unlike all of the people she knows, Tamsin has no magical abilities to speak of. This unfortunate circumstance makes her chosen profession especially difficult, as breaking into ancient burial sites looking for magical treasures also sought by sorceresses and faeries puts her at a clear disadvantage. Thankfully her younger brother Cabell is able to see the magical threads that link objects and people, which facilitates their job.

Abandoned by their foster father, who disappeared one night after stealing a powerful Arthurian ring rumored to be able to break the curse of lycanthrope that affects Cabell, the two of them had to fend for themselves. Now ten years later, Tamsin hears rumors that the ring is back in play, and that a powerful sorceress seeks it. Tamsin receives a comtract to find the fabled ring, only to discover that her erstwhile enemy, Emrys, is also looking for the ring.

Forced to unite their abilities for the time being due to the swarm of other seekers also looking for the ring, Tamsin, Cabell and Emrys track the last whereabouts of her foster father, only to stumble upon the Arthurian lands themselves through a gate. But the sickness that has taken over these lands threatens not only that kingdom, but also their present. With danger and treachery swirling around her, Tamsin's lack of magical abilities may in fact be her greatest strength ...

Faust

 von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang. Faust. 1998. 503p. ISBN 9780385031141. 

Though medieval in origin, the tale of Faust is as old as time itself, with man seeking to escape the bonds meant to retain his humanity. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe crafted a retelling of Faust on and off for over sixty years, with the final product published after his death in the early 1800s. In Goethe's story, Faust has reached the pinnacle of humanity, but is unable to exceed it. His knowledge is extraordinary, his power is great, and he enjoys life, but it is not satisfying. Faust's existential crisis attracts the attention of Mephistopheles, the German version of the Devil, who offers Faust a wager. Mephistopheles tells Faust he will provide him with every kind of experience imaginable in order to find the one that will satisfy him. If he fails, Faust will get to enjoy an even better life than before. But if he succeeds, and if Faust finds a moment in time where he is truly satisfied, he will lose his soul.

Scared of the bargain but eager to perhaps reach true happiness for the first time, Faust agrees to Mephistopheles's terms, and soon he experiences things beyond the comprehension of most humans. But none of these experiences satisfy him. Then he meets Gretchen, a young woman, and the lustful relationship takes Faust closest to being fully satisfied before Mephistopheles destroys the young woman and her family, causing Faust eternal grief. 

Still bound by his deal with Mephistopheles, Faust and the Devil travel through time, living in different eras. Faust cannot forget Gretchen, however, and though life can be sweet, it is nothing but the taste of ashes in his mouth, and Mephistopheles is nowhere close to collecting Faust's soul. Then Faust meets Helen of Troy, renowned beauty, Faust finally feels satisfied with his life. Mephistopheles attempts to collect Faust's soul, but God intervenes in Faust's favor following Gretchen's desperate pleading. Carried up to paradise, Faust is reunited with Gretchen, and Mephistopheles crawls back to Hell, having failed in his mission. Faust was thus saved by Gretchen and his eternal love for him.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass

Bashardoust, Melissa. Girls Made of Snow and Glass. 2017. 384p. 775 mins. ISBN 978-1-42728998-8. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Mina is beautiful but so very cold and so very lonely. Her father is a powerful but selfish wizard who can pour some of his life energy into inert material to create animated objects. Faced with a wasting disease, her father manipulated sand and created Mina a new crystal heart that kept her alive, but did not beat. Her mother soon died from grief, and her father told her she would never be able to love and be loved. Loathed by people for her father's magical abilities, Mina grew up lonely in the south of the kingdom. When she realized she also possessed the power to shape glass, she wisely kept this secret away from her domineering father. Then he received an amazing opportunity. He was summoned to court to help the king and his queen.

A few years later, Mina comes to live at court in Whitespring Castle, in the north. A curse has blanketed the land with perpetual snow, so that nothing grows in this part of the Kingdom and it is always cold. She catches the king's eye, who is unconsolable with the death of his wife, but who needs a stepmother for his young daughter, Lynet. Lynet is the spitting image of his wife, and her father adores her. Hoping to retain the king's attention, Mina crafts a man out of glass. Designed to love her and teach her about love, the huntsman is also a spy in the king's entourage, meant to keep tabs on him and report back to Mina.

After a short courtship Mina and the king are soon married, but their union is not consumed, and even though she is queen she is barely accepted by the local nobility. But Lynet loves her, and soon they become a very tight family, until Mina realizes that the king plans on replacing her with Lynet. For her part, Lynet loves her stepmother, but is very sheltered and has never wondered why she never gets cold. She also loathes any reference to how she looks like her dead mother and fears that her father expects her to become that woman, losing her own identity in the process. When a new surgeon arrives at Whitespring, the delicate dance between Mina, Lynet, and the king is broken. Not much older than Lynet, the surgeon offers her something no one else has: a window to the outside world.

As Lynet discovers more about her past and her birth, she realizes the depth of deceptions that surround her at Whitespring. When the king sets Lynet and Mina on a frontal collision course, plans are set in motion that will cost someone their life, as only one person can be queen. A retelling of Snow White, this book examines the origins of the stepmother and how she became the villain of the tale. Beware, however, for even villains can be redeemed!

Baba Yaga's Assistant

McCoola, Marika, with illustrations by Emily Carroll. Baba Yaga's Assistant. 2015. 132p. ISBN 978-0-7636-6961-4. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.



Baba Yaga is the stuff of nightmares for Slavic children all over the world. Reputed for eating children and wrecking havoc on those who encounter her, Baba Yaga also has her maternal side and cares deeply about the wildlife that lives in her forest. More than anything, though, Baba Yaga is a trickster who enjoys creating challenges that require clever and entertaining thinking.

Masha's mother died when Masha was very young, and her father became very distant, unable to cope with the loss of his wife. She was raised by her grandmother, who told her fantastical stories of Baba Yaga and her personal interactions with the old crone. Masha fully believes that Baba Yaga lurks around their neighborhood. Her grandmother also passed away, leaving Masha alone with her absent father.

Now her father has plans to remarry, and Masha will get a little sister, Dani, who is a holy terror and who shares Masha's anger at this new relationship. Having read an advertisement in the newspaper seeking a new assistant for Baba Yaga, and convinced she would be better off abandoning this family that doesn't really care for her, Masha takes off and heads into the forest, looking for the crone.

Finding Baba Yaga and her house on chicken feet, Masha must complete a practical exam where she is challenged to complete activities that require quick thinking. Thankfully, Masha remembers all of the stories her grandmother told her, and she's able to use them to assist her in meeting these challenges. But when Dani arrives, having been captured by Baba Yaga and on the menu for the next meal, Masha will need to devise a clever way to thwart the crone's designs.

Beautifully illustrated and quick paced, Baba Yaga's Assistant presents a new take on an old tale and brings Baba Yaga's environment to life. Fans of graphic novels will appreciate both the plot and the quality of the drawings.