A thoroughly original tale with plenty of appeal for older middle-graders through teens.
Reeling from their widowed father’s sudden death, Tess and Axel are whisked from rural Baldwin, New York, to Helsinki by Jaana, the stern Finnish grandmother they’ve just met, to live in their grandparents’ tiny condo—a prospect dismaying to all, including the children’s long-dead mother, who has her own agenda.
While young teen Tess and Jaana engage in a battle of strong wills, Axel, 10, has other worries. Like his grandfather Otso, an otherwise healthy wheelchair user, and his mother, Alex has a rare form of muscular dystrophy with an uncertain prognosis. Saara died giving birth to him, and Axel himself is in fragile health. Lately, he’s been haunted by a wheelchair only he can see and that follows him everywhere. That’s not all. Tess also saw the bear and the Keeper back in New York, but Axel doesn’t know how to convince her the bear is their mother, who’s set them a difficult task. Style and characterization are strengths, along with diverse, evocative settings, including Baldwin, a seedy trailer in Florida, Finnish cottage country, and the magical path connecting them. The plot becomes confusing when realistic elements increasingly clash with Kalevala-infused fantasy. While the point of view alternates between both kids, Axel is the center of gravity; his choices increasingly drive the action until the startlingly abrupt ending.
A thoroughly original tale with plenty of appeal for older middle-graders through teens. (Fantasy. 11-16)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-1981-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Imaginative and dazzlingly theatrical at the end, though on the long and wandering side.
A traumatized family heals most of its cracks as it bumbles from Meanyopolis to Truphoria.
It’s been more than six decades since Feiffer illustrated Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, but he’s still sending young people into metaphorical fantasy realms to meet quirky residents and bumble along on personal quests toward self-actualization. Here, the horrifying prospect of getting a new dad, home, and siblings propels quarrelsome Pearlie and contrary little brother Curly into the Lost Dimension of Ephemera. They’re followed by older sister Shirley with her hunky but dimwitted fiance, Earl, and finally their indecisive mom, who sings the titular song (“I cried, I sighed, / alone, I’d moan, / ’twas grapes / that set me free”). Mommy, in a protracted search for her true identity, becomes the real protagonist. Or at least, by the end, she sends her children on their ways and evinces the most change among the characters. Accompanied by a dog/cat named Kelly and a wildly mutable monster representing doubt (or something like it), various members of the clan encounter locals, from the Feary (“rhymes with scary”) Queen to an attacking troupe of dapper, dancing, deadly Elegantics. The story culminates in a wedding and a last reprise of the theme song. In the art dialogue balloons, bright colors and scribbly lines feature more prominently than the human figures, who are posed with balletic grace. Main characters present white.
Imaginative and dazzlingly theatrical at the end, though on the long and wandering side. (Graphic fantasy. 11-16)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2024
ISBN: 9780062963833
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Michael di Capua/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
IN THE NEWS
An emotionally engaging and draining debut.
Two teenagers suffer through their first heartbreak.
Henry Page has spent his high school years with his nose to the grindstone, avoiding romantic relationships and focusing on becoming the editor of the school paper. At the start of his senior year Henry is offered the job, but there’s a catch: transfer student Grace Town is offered the gig as well, making the two white teens co-editors. Sparks fly as Henry works with the aloof, unkempt new girl, who walks with a cane. As Henry and Grace grow closer, Henry falls deeper for her even as he learns just how broken she is. In her debut, Sutherland mixes her love story with equal parts hope and ominous dread. There is never any doubt that this couple is marching toward romantic oblivion, but it’s an effectively drawn journey. The characters speak with a John Green–esque voice, but they are never overbearingly precocious. Narrator Henry’s a smartly rendered character, a decent kid who has goals and works hard to achieve them. His new goal is Grace’s affection, and the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object that is Grace’s emotional unavailability provides the novel some of its sharpest moments. When the walls tumble down, the connection between the two is clearly an unhealthy one, and the author pulls no punches, devastating Henry, Grace, and readers in equal measure.
An emotionally engaging and draining debut. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-54656-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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