Richie's Picks: Great Books for Children and Young Adults

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Thank You!

" 'There's only one copy of this in the nation,' she said. 'I can have it for you in three weeks.'
" 'Great! Thank you...'
" 'I'm Sandy. And there's the one-dollar interlibrary loan fee.'
" 'Right. Of course,' Nat said. He nodded and began dumping dimes, quarters, nickels, lint, and an inspected by tag onto Sandy's pristine desk.
"Sandy couldn't help herself -- she stacked the coins by denomination, then hurried the lint and tag to the garbage.
"Nat smiled as he watched her fuss.
"Sandy realized he was watching and looked up. Their eyes met. U Go Girl! she thought. She took a deep breath. 'You know, you've been coming here for a little while, and I never see you with anyone.'
" 'I don't know a lot of people.'
" 'You know me...now.' She scribbled on his interlibrary loan receipt. 'You could call my cell.'
" 'Your cell?'
" 'My phone.'
"Nat debated. He looked pained. 'I'm not supposed to,' he said finally.
" 'What? Like there's some rule against it?'
"Nat took his receipt. 'Yes,' he said quickly, and he fled before she could say another word.
"Sandy watched him go, sad. She didn't know how U Go Girl! would rate her effort to adventurize, but she imagined that, because the first boy she'd gotten the courage to proposition had run away, it wouldn't be good."

I really enjoyed my first visit to Seattle. The Convention Center where ALA was meeting is conveniently located right in the center of the city, and the buses -- which are inexpensive when heading to the outskirts and free when traveling around the city center -- are all operated by friendly, helpful drivers. We stayed at a hostel which was close to the water and right around the corner from both the Pike Place Market and a nice little shop with great salt bagels. And, we had the pleasure of being taken out for lunch to a highly-acclaimed vegan restaurant: Bamboo Garden on Roy Street. The hot and sour soup there is the best I've ever tasted.

Just a few blocks away from the restaurant, in a massive 1901 Craftsman-style home that sits amidst a tidy Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, Nat -- that skittish 15 year-old boy who was being assisted by high school sophomore and Seattle Public Library junior assistant librarian Sandra (Sandy) Nertz -- lives alone. Well, not really alone. The house is filled with demons and it is his job to feed, care for, and contain them, now that his teacher, Dhaliwahl has died. It has been a challenging and often lonely first month of "keeping" the demons on his own. For heaven's sake! He's almost gotten himself eaten.

And Dhaliwahl's teachings had, in fact, included instructions that Nat stay away from girls.

There are hundreds of goofy demons bouncing around Nat's house. And then there is The Beast, a deadly, nightmarish demon being kept locked in the fortified basement who is fed through a barred feeding shoot.

Oh, and don't forget about Nat's own three minions: There is Pernicious, "the demonic incarnation of nasty surprises," Nikolai, who "embodies the chaos of not knowing one's own strength," and Flappy, "a wind demon, the incarnation of swirling gusts -- the aimless, spasmodic sort that sent children's kites into trees." The trio are a total blast.

But, the question is, when things start really going badly, will the minions be more help or hindrance? And what about Sandy, the resourceful teenage junior assistant librarian? Or the pair of skater dudes who break into the demon-filled house with disastrous consequences.

"Nat stomped his foot. 'I mean it, did you receive a clear visual image of three demonic manifestations that are minionic in character?'
" 'I saw a pint-sized dragon, a deformed evil gnome on steroids, and a retarded two-legged Chihuahua.'
" 'So you did see them,' Nat said."

DEMONKEEPER by Royce Buckingham is an alternately sweet, funny, and occasionally deadly story of a lonely boy, a lonely girl, a house full of demons, a vengeful apprentice gone bad, a pair of skater dudes, and The Beast. The middle school kids are going to eat this one up with a gusto equal to that of Pernicious, Nikolai, and Flappy when they greedily dive headfirst into their cast iron trough full of fish guts.

Richie Partington
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