The Wild Orchid

Title : The wild orchid

Author : Cameron Dokey

Citation : Dokey, Cameron. The wild orchid : a retelling of the ballad of Mulan. New York : Simon Pulse, 2009.

A classic timeless fairy tales with the background of Chinese culture, Mulan, unlike any other girl in China, she has an ability to wield a sword as deftly as an embroidery needle. Determined by her wish to spare her aging father and bring honour to her family, when the emperor summons all male to fight, she disguises herself and get involved in the fight. In the middle of Mulan's courage with a bow and arrow, she never expects to find a friend in the commander of her division. Will she have the courage to reveal her true identity and feelings with Prince Jian? With a touch of Chinese folklore, this story happens to have a character-drive storyline, suspenseful tone and compelling writing style. No wonder that Dokey has made this book an award winners of YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults as Twists on the tale for the year of 2010.

The Goose Girl

Title : The goose girl

Author : Shannon Hale

Citation : Hale, Shannon. The goose girl. New York : Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2003.

The Crown Princess of Kildenree, Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, spends the first years of her life under the guidance of her aunt to learn to communicate with animals. Developing the skills of animal speech as she grows up, she is never comfortable when speaking with people. Then, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting steals her identity and distract control of the guards during Ani's journey in a foreign land, Bayern. She, eventually, acknowledge her own special powers to find her way to her true destiny. This retelling story maintains many similarities to the original tale of Brothers Grimm, including the harsh punishment for treason. Also, similar to Robin McKinley's heroines, this leisurely-paced story is rich, full of eloquent description and beautiful imagery with a complex plot, a large cast of characters and a strong female protagonist. Readers who enjoy getting lost in an enchanted world will be satisfied not only by the conclusion but also by the suspenseful tone, full of danger and surprising twists. These appealing elements make the novel the winner of Jossette Frank Award and of Utah State Book Award.

The Third Eye

Title : The third eye

Author : Mahtab Narsimhan

Citation : Narsimhan, Mahtab. The third eye. Toronto : Dundurn Group, c2007.

For Tara and her brother, a nightmare is defined by the year their mother and grandfather fled the village of Morni in the middle of the night. Having a new stepmother who is cruel and deceptive makes her wanting to protect her brother, especially when men of the village have been disappearing because the village is lacking healers. Then, a mysterious man with a third eye possessing an odd power, Zarku, appears in Morni and everybody is fascinated by his magic, except Tara. She see through his evil disguise. Without nothing but her own courage and wit, can she find her missing mother and grandfather who is the true healer, in time to save her village? This story is such an interesting combination of elements of classic fairy tales, such as Hansel and Gretel with Indian mythology. Its original and entertaining couple with tone of strong sense of place will make readers enjoy the lushly described Indian setting as well as some cultural references such as Hindu Gods. The novel opens with a compelling scene that should captive the heart of fantasy fans. For avid readers, the novel is well worth the extra effort to try it. With its unique setting and beautiful prose, readers can't say no to the next book.

Other book in the Tara Trilogy: The silver anklet (2009), The deadly conch (2011)

Melting Stones

Title : Melting stones

Author : Tamora Pierce

Citation : Pierce, Tamora. Melting stones. New York : Scholastic, 2008.

A call for help to Winding Circle temple has been sent by people on one of the islands south of Emelan. Their concern is their plants, trees and animals that live around are mysteriously dying. A prickly green mage Rosethorn and young stone mage trainee Evvy respond to the call and strive to find the problem that has something to do with a long-dormant volcano. With the help of Luvo, the living stone heart of a mountain, Evvy, then attempts to do whatever it takes to avoid the catastrophic destruction. Will they be able to evacuate the island in time or will they try to shift a volcano? From the author of the Trickster series, Pierce engage the intricate conversational and dialogue-rich writing style and the taste of suspenseful and fast-paced. The world-building storyline seems to be her uniqueness that makes this book hard to put down.

The Golden Compass

Title : The golden compass

Author : Philip Pullman

Citation : Pullman, Philip. The golden compass. New York : A. A. Knopf, 1995.

A terrible experiment separating humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's sinner being, is being conducted and children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers". Therefore, an orphan named Lyra Belacqua leaves her carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College and embarks on a journey to look for her kidnapped bestfriend, Roger. Accompanied by her shape-shifting daemon and a truth-telling instrument, a compass called Alethiometer, she keens of finding out a mystery in the far North including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that is believed to be part of a parallel universe. The Golden Compass is the first book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. With a world-building storyline, fast-paced, tones of atmospheric and suspenseful, Pullman is a master at combining impeccable characterisations and seamless plotting. The story line moves along at a fast clip, but flags when it comes into philosophical matter. The intricate plot makes the book is really compelling and richly detailed.

Other book in the His Dark Materials Trilogy: The subtle knife (1997), The amber spyglass (2000), Lyra's Oxford (2003).

The Last of the High Kings

Title : The last of the high kings

Author : Kate Thompson

Citation : Thompson, Kate. The last of the high kings. New York : Greenwillow Books, 2008

JJ Liddy, from The New Policeman, has grown up and married to Aisling. He has four children in which the second one, Jenny never felt like she belonged in the family. She wanders barefoot around the Irish countryside instead of going to school. No one in her family believes her when she told that she has a ghost friend and a puka. Being a changeling makes her confused and hurt. Everything has to change when the puka wants Jenny to persuade the ghost that he doesn’t need to guard the beacon any more. And Jenny has to make a choice of where to live. Unlike the first sequel, The New Policeman, whose the  main character is JJ Liddy, this sequel is presented in mysterious, riveting and steeped in Irish legend and music. The author's world-building storyline of Irish folklore playfully weaves modern life with ancient magic. Although much of the story is told from the point of view of adults, this stylistically complex writing style will captive readers by the depiction of the suspenseful battle between unseen and ageless forces. Readers will also be fascinated by the character Jenny, who has the power to rescue or annihilate worlds that grown-ups have ruined.

Other book in the New Policeman Trilogy: The new policeman (2007), The white horse trick (2010)