The Warble by Victoria Simcox

Twelve-year-old Kristina Kingsly feels like the most unpopular girl in her school. The kids all tease her, and she never seems to fit in. But when Kristina receives an unusual Christmas gift, she suddenly finds herself magically transported to the land of Bernovem, home of dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking animals and the evil Queen Sentiz.

In Bernovem, Kristina not only fits in, she's honored as "the chosen one," the only one who can release the land from Queen Sentiz's control. But it's not as simple as it seems. To save Bernovem, she must place the gift she was given, the famous "Magic Warble," in its final resting place. She must travel through the deep forest, climb a treacherous mountain, and risk capture by the queen's "zelbocks" before she reaches her destination.

Guided by her new fairy friends, Clover and Looper and by Prince Werrien, a teenage boy, and an assortment of other characters, Kristina sets off on a perilous journey that not only tests her strength but her heart. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads 

Publication Date: January 1, 2009 

Age Level: 9 and up 

Grade Level: 4 and up 

My thoughts on The Warble ~~ 

Okay - before I post my thoughts on this book, I want to share a little bit about myself. I have loved books and reading my entire life. I think I read every single book in my hometown Carnegie library while I was growing up. That love of reading has never gone away. What did change was the kind of books I read. As I grew up, my tastes in books changed. "I am an adult, therefore I shall read adult books." As an adult, I read mainly contemporary fiction, women's fiction, mystery, books along those lines.

A couple of years ago, I thought I would start writing up a little blip about the books I read, mainly as a way to keep track of them. As I did that, I discovered the great, big wonderful world of book bloggers. I discovered more and more and more. And it seemed like most of them we talking about all these fabulous YA books, a genre that I stopped reading a long time ago. Well, some of these books sounded really good to me. Remember I was the one that read 'everything' growing up. I decided I would give some of them a try ~ and I loved what I was reading.

Then I came across some blogs that were talking about MG books. What on earth kind of books are MG books? This wasn't a genre of books I was familiar with growing up, way back when. I actually Googled it because I really didn't know.

So now here are my thoughts, finally ~~

I entered a giveaway on one of those MG blogs that was giving away a copy of The Warble. It sounded kind of interesting and yes, the cover got to me. I entered the giveaway and won it! The author then asked if I would post a review after I read it. Like I said, the story sounded interesting to me but would I be satisfied, as a reader, reading a book for ages 9 and up?

I am now done with the book and let me tell you, this story is amazing! It is very well written with great characters and a fabulous story line. I was really drawn into the story and I didn't want to stop reading. There was plenty of action and entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed my first peek into the MG genre and I know young people are going to love it too.

This book has opened up a whole new genre-world to me. First I discovered the great books being written for YA. And now I have ventured into the wonderful world of MG books and authors. Awesome!!

Like my favorite saying goes ~~ So Many Books, So Little Time ~~ that's for sure! And now I have even more to get read!

The second book in this series is The Shard which was published in October 2011. I am going to have to get a hold of that one soon to find out what happens to Kristina and her friends. Thank you, Victoria Simcox for writing such a great story! 

About the author 

Victoria Simcox was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to an Austrian immigrant mother, and a Dutch immigrant father. She now resides in Western Washington with her husband and 3 children. Her other family members are, a Chihuahua, named Pipsy and 2 cats, named Frodo and Fritz. For the past 12 years, she has home-schooled her children. Besides being an author, Victoria is also an elementary school art teacher. Victoria enjoys writing, reading, painting watercolors, hiking, good movies, and hanging out with her family and friends.