A sophisticated, tightly paced YA swashbuckler.
In Wells (Stories of the Raksura, 2015, etc.) and De Orive’s (SHARD RPG Basic Compendium, 2009) YA fantasy, a teenager travels to a volatile, magical realm populated by elves and trolls and featuring an enchanted blade.
Seventh-grader Manny Boreaux lives with his aunt, Licha, in Austin, Texas. Six months ago, his parents died in a car accident, and that fact weighs him down. At school, he steals a handheld video game belonging to a bully, which gets him in trouble with his aunt. She decides that Manny should speak with Father Diego, but Manny dodges the meeting and visits Beltran’s Discount Books instead, where he finds a 350-year-old copy of a book titled The Blade Singer by Auberon Fae. He opens the book and a gold coin falls out. After he flips the coin, he’s transported into the body of a street urchin named Remy in a city in the kingdom of Aquitania. Manny soon realizes that Remy isn’t human—he’s a Sidhe, one of the faery folk. Because of his goblinlike appearance, sentries chase him around the city of Lutetia until an elfin swordsman named Etienne—who looks just like Manny’s deceased father—rescues him. Later, Manny encounters the thief Adriana, who looks like his mother, and she reveals to him the Fae Undercity, which is ruled by the evil crone Morrigan. Wells and De Orive, in their first YA collaboration, build a winning redemption saga using the sturdiest elements of the fantasy genre: magically powered elves, a bedeviling city filled with intrigue, and a royal line in peril. Etienne’s sword has a name (“Amechanteur”), and when it’s wielded by someone whose “cause is just and...heart is true,” it makes that person a “champion without equal.” The story of Manny’s journey in Remy’s body allows for nuanced introspection; for example, Adriana tells him that “Sidhe who are done ill, or who do ill by others, start to change, their appearance reflecting what’s inside.” Readers will be eager to see if Manny embraces the hero’s role, even if he doesn’t look the part. The satisfying resolution involves a clever cameo from Arthurian legend.
A sophisticated, tightly paced YA swashbuckler.Pub Date: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-692-23050-3
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Cloak & Dagger Studios
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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