The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

The Crown’s Game is full of mystery, magic, and intrigue. And of course, Russian history and folklore.

Vika, as fiery as her red hair, lives on the isolated and tiny Ovchinin Island. Her magic is wild and acts in a way that imitates nature. Nikolai is an orphan who has grown up in the city of the tsar, St. Petersburg, and who has grown as close as a brother to the crown prince, Pasha. Nikolai’s magic works as smoothly as a clock’s gears, integrating itself into the very infrastructure of the city.

Two enchanters. Only one can win the title of Imperial Enchanter and assist the tsar. For the other, imminent death awaits.

In the introduction to The Crown’s Game, the game itself is explained.

The Crown’s Game is an old one, older than the tsardom itself. It began long ago, in the age of Rurik, Prince of Novgorod, when Russia was still a cluster of tribes, wild and lawless and young. As the country matured over the centuries, so too, did the game. But always, always it retained its untamed fierceness.

For the winner of the game, there would be imaginable power.

For the defeated, desolate oblivion.

The Crown’s Game was not one to lose.

Vika and Nikolai compete for the title of Imperial Enchanter, each act of magic more dangerous than the last. They both fight to win, but how can you defeat the one person you love? In the meantime, Pasha begins to decipher that the elaborate “decorations” and illusions around the city might be more than just smoke and mirrors, while also falling for the flame-haired girl.

For fans of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus set against the backdrop of Imperial Russia, Evelyn Skye’s world comes to life in vivid color. As a scholar of Russian history and literature, Skye expertly creates an alternate universe for Imperial Russia; one that, while she takes some creative liberties, feels like a perfect merging of fact and fiction. A historical fantasy of the best kind, The Crown’s Game will have you wishing for more.

Author of The Crown's Game, Evelyn Skye

Pax by Sara Pennypacker and illustrated by Jon Klassen

I think that my most favorite kind of book is an illustrated middle-grade. Sara Pennypacker, author of the series Clementine, Summer of the Gypsy Moths, and The Dullards, has written a glorious story for children ages 8-12. Better yet, Caldecott winning artist Jon Klassen has illustrated it. It is titled, simply, Pax. Pax is the story of a journey. It is the story of a fox and his boy, Pax and Peter. A story of friendship, of love, and of war and peace.

Peter has raised Pax as his pet. When as an unnamed war is about to start, and Peter’s father must go serve, Peter is sent to go live with his grandfather, and Pax is left behind in the woods. Armed with only a backpack filled with peanut butter (Pax’s favorite) some matches, duct tape, garbage bags (to use as a poncho in the rain) a gold charm bracelet, string cheese, two oranges, and his baseball and glove, Peter decides to make the three hundred mile trek back home to find Pax again. Boy and fox are inseparable, and in the face of war, the master of tearing things asunder, they make parallel journeys towards each other in the hopes of being reunited.

Pax loved his boy, but more than that, he felt responsible for Peter, for protecting him. When he couldn’t perform this role, he suffered.

Pax shook the night’s rain off his back and headed for the road without even stretching his stiff muscles, straining for his boy’s scent.

Peter and Pax’s journey will take them far from home. They will meet people (and other foxes) who will change their lives, and in turn, they will also make a difference in the world they live in.

Peter meets an important lady named Vola. She asks Peter, “So which is it? You going back for your home or for your pet?”

“They’re the same thing,” Peter said, the answer sudden and sure, although a surprise to him.

Pax is a heart wrenching book that you will want to read over and over again. Pennypacker’s words will have the reader feel the ground beneath Peter’s feet, and see the trees waving in the wind over Pax’s head in the dark forest. This book examines why we make the choices we make, and better yet, shows that grownups should listen carefully to children, and also, foxes. With vivid imagery from Sara Pennypacker, and Klassen’s earthen toned illustrations, Pax is a great read for kids.

This article originally appeared in The Clarion Ledger.