For readers who want to meander.
This first in a fantasy trilogy features a young girl and a band of animals questing to save the world from itself.
Readers meet Winter, who is in grade nine, surrounded by schoolyard bullies at the novel’s opening, but she is whisked to a world of talking animals within a few chapters. As the newly named leader of the Guardians, which protect the planet and its life force, Winter hones magical skills with guidance from Vulpeera the fox, Pteron the bat, and others. Threats to the Guardianship mount, and common fantasy elements pile up. Winter’s deceased biological parents, her role as a chosen child with magical blood, and a journey to a powerful mountain feel familiar. Meanwhile, themes of grief and climate change add social complexity—though they are woven in with little subtlety, a problem that’s exacerbated as the novel loses control of its pacing. As Winter and her animal comrades race against time, Winter must face painful revelations about her family members while becoming a leader. Chapters end on action to pull readers along. The names of animal characters and magical powers are so numerous that readers may lose track, but Latin buffs might love it. Winter presents white; Vulpeera references two mothers (of different species), and human character Alectus uses a prosthetic foot. Madia and Peirce contribute occasional grayscale spot illustrations.
For readers who want to meander. (Fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: May 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77168-158-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will need to strap on their helmets and prepare for a wild ride.
Disaster overtakes a group of sixth graders on a leadership-building white-water rafting trip.
Deep in the Montana wilderness, a dam breaks, and the resultant rush sweeps away both counselors, the rafts, and nearly all the supplies, leaving five disparate preteens stranded in the wilderness far from where they were expected to be. Narrator Daniel is a mild White kid who’s resourceful and good at keeping the peace but given to worrying over his mentally ill father. Deke, also White, is a determined bully, unwilling to work with and relentlessly taunting the others, especially Mia, a Latina, who is a natural leader with a plan. Tony, another White boy, is something of a friendly follower and, unfortunately, attaches himself to Deke while Imani, a reserved African American girl, initially keeps her distance. After the disaster, Deke steals the backpack with the remaining food and runs off with Tony, and the other three resolve to do whatever it takes to get it back, eventually having to confront the dangerous bully. The characters come from a variety of backgrounds but are fairly broadly drawn; still, their breathlessly perilous situation keeps the tale moving briskly forward, with one threatening situation after another believably confronting them. As he did with Wildfire (2019), Newbery Honoree Philbrick has crafted another action tale for young readers that’s impossible to put down.
Readers will need to strap on their helmets and prepare for a wild ride. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64727-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
A picture book combines the exuberance of children and the drama found in nature for a sly lesson on power-sharing. Henderson (Newborn, 1999, etc.) lands on the wide reaches of a windy beach where young Jim expansively flings wide his arms and claims “All this is mine!” So it seems until the wind blows in a gale so violent that it smashes objects and tears “through the dreams of people sleeping.” An eerie series of black-and-white paintings shows the white-capped waves breaking ever higher and crashing inland; these are so frightening that Jim cries out to his mother, “The sea! It’s coming!” Happily enough, Jim and his mother are able to run up the hill to a grandmother’s house where they weather the storm safely. The next time Jim speaks to the wind, on a much quieter beach, he whispers, “All this is yours.” Large type, appealing pastel illustrations, and a dose of proper perspective on humankind’s power over nature make this book a fine choice for story hours as well as nature collections. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0904-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
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