79: Troubletwisters, Book 1, by Garth Nix and Sean Williams (2011 hardcover)

I keep coming across fantasy books by Nix, so I decided to try this Tween book to see what I thought of his work.  As things go in books for this age group, Troubletwisters (yes, all one word, which bugged me immensely) was a relatively gripping read, fraught with the usual missing parents (work), visit to strange relative (grandmother), and oncoming powers (control of weather conditions).  The main characters are Jaide and Jack--twins who don't necessarily conform to gender roles (Jaide is faster, Jack more thoughtful)--and there are enough evil characters, talking animals, and bugs to make kids this age happy.  I'll take a look at another Nix book to see what I think, and I'll keep my eyes open for Troubletwisters Book 2, as promised by the this volume's title.