Passable escapist reading for witchcraft fans in search of something light. (Urban fantasy. 12-16)
An eager teen witch discovers the supernatural world is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
Fifteen-year-old Julie and her best friend Marcus aren’t the most popular kids at their Calgary, Alberta, high school. He’s a skinny brainiac, and she’s a witch (though, of course, only Marcus knows that). When an elderly neighbor is sent flying out her front door by a poltergeist, Julie’s ready to investigate, but her overprotective mother (also a witch) urges caution. The attacks continue, and suddenly Julie’s mother is incapacitated. With the help of skeptical Marcus and an immortal spirit who claims to be her “tutelary,” Julie must use her powers to delve into her family’s past and find the ancient spirit she’s sure is responsible for her mother’s condition and the increasingly violent supernatural incidents around town. Canadian author Cummings' first for teens features some fizzy magic and an interesting supernatural world, but discerning readers will likely find the characters shallow and their motivations simplistic. Worldbuilding is problematic as well: If witches have always existed, it strains credulity that devastation of the magnitude described could be explained away over the centuries. A sequel is all but guaranteed; perhaps it will be an improvement.
Passable escapist reading for witchcraft fans in search of something light. (Urban fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-908844-101
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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