Sunday 11 March 2012

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

Welcome to another episode of : (*imagine deep echoey voice*) 




As always a shout out to Shannon Messenger who came up with the idea to give MG the attention it so richly deserves. Speaking of attention another shout out to Jill @ The O.W.L.. All this month is March Middle Grade Madness!

Today I'm sharing the Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. I am thinking many of you are already familiar with it, but just in case some of my newer followers and fans of middle grade fantasy have not...I'm sharing. If you love a hero you can cheer for. A hero you know is a hero before he does and you like high fantasy with some dark and humour, this is for you. It is a perennial favourite of my (former) book club kids, new books in the series snatched up as soon as I put them on the shelf. And read numerous times by those same fans, boys in particular. More from IndieBound on book one, The Ruins of Gorlan:

They have always scared him in the past - the Rangers, with their dark cloaksand shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice. What he doesn't yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied.


I adored Will because he was filled with self doubt and didn't realize his own potential even when we could see it. Plus he was afraid of the very men he he was meant to become one of! It hit me in the heart. The kids who read it loved the action, the dark evil, the battles lost, the friendships made, the battles won. Set that all in a dark ages like setting filled with magic and you have a winner beginning to end. And that's only book one!


That's it from me. I'm also over on Shannon Messenger's blog singing the praises of Silverwing, a novel by one of my favourite Canadian authors. See you over there, too!


For more middle grade love and participants check out some of the following:






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11 comments:

  1. Ms. Yingling12 March 2012 at 03:41

    This series has been so popular in my library that when we got some extra money a few years ago, I made sure I had FOUR copies of each book-- and they are all still out and have reserve lists! Don't know why these are so appealing, but they certainly are.

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  2. Natalie Aguirre12 March 2012 at 04:42

    Thanks for sharing about this. I saw I can get it as a audio book at the library. Once I finish the one I'm reading, I'll definitely check it out.

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  3. Jemi Fraser12 March 2012 at 07:29

    I love this book! I didn't read it until last year, then I read it to my class - they loved it!! :)

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  4. Joanne Fritz12 March 2012 at 09:05

    We've sold gazillions of copies of this book and the entire series. And I've yet to read any of them! (*Blushes*)

    Sounds really exciting, Deb. I might have to bump this up on the TBR list.

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  5. Shannon O'Donnell12 March 2012 at 09:37

    This is a HUGE favorite with me and my boys. LOVE this series--love, love, love. Great choice, Deb. :-)

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  6. Barbara Watson12 March 2012 at 10:54

    My son has read (and re-read) this entire series! I, however, have not read any of them and need to.

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  7. Gabrielle Prendergast12 March 2012 at 11:36

    I've read almost this entire series. It's like buttered whole grain toast, yummy and good and easy to digest. I used to have the same agent at Flanagan so I'm not quite sure why I'm not as successful, but ...anyway ;-)

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  8. Michael G-G12 March 2012 at 18:07

    DEb, I've just started reading The Game of Thrones for my testoserone-fueled men's book group. This sounds like an MG version of TGoT. TBR.

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    Replies
    1. Deb Marshall18 March 2012 at 12:51

      Michael! Yes on TGoT...oh my, I love that book, that series. Hope you are enjoying it!

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  9. Stina Lindenblatt12 March 2012 at 19:18

    I tried to get my 12 yo to read this. He looked at it and said no thanks. :(

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  10. Lisa Ard16 March 2012 at 09:14

    I finally read this book after so many kids recommended it during school visits. It was wonderful. I'd also recommend John Flanagan's BrotherBand Chronicles - lots of adventures, good characterization, humor, etc.

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