A promising idea mired by unclear worldbuilding, murky stakes, and an unsatisfying ending.
Twelve-year-old orphan Ellis becomes ensnared in an evil plot.
After Ellis’ best friend, Lora, disappears from Clearwood Home for Orphans, the only clue is Lora’s bookmark, upon which she’d written the phrase “The Forests of the Night.” Soon after, Ellis is assigned as guardian to new resident Pip, who doesn’t speak. Both girls feel a strong connection to the massive Ghost Tree—the fossilized remains of the only tree that didn’t rot away in the Blight. Ellis even hears the tree talking to her. After she and Pip see a huge, birdlike creature pecking at the tree, the girls are sent away to a summer camp, where kids are forced to mine an energy source that powers evil scientist Mother Dear’s creations. Dealing in “bio-hybridization, paleo-genetics, robotics, [and] artificial intelligence” as part of her plan to rule the world by replacing nature, Mother Dear must destroy the last natural space on Earth: the forests of the night. If Ellis and Pip can’t get there first, all will be lost, but luckily, they have the Ghost Tree on their side. The book’s very slow first half lays a minimal foundation for the book’s overall mystery. Persistent readers may feel rewarded in the second half, which features more clarity and exciting plot elements. Ellis has little agency throughout, mostly doing as she’s told, which makes for a largely unengaging narrative. Most characters are cued white.
A promising idea mired by unclear worldbuilding, murky stakes, and an unsatisfying ending. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: April 12, 2025
ISBN: 9781770867857
Page Count: 210
Publisher: DCB Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
During a school year in which a gifted teacher who emphasizes personal responsibility among his fifth graders ends up in a coma from a thrown snowball, his students come to terms with their own issues and learn to be forgiving. Told in short chapters organized month-by-month in the voices of seven students, often describing the same incident from different viewpoints, this weaves together a variety of not-uncommon classroom characters and situations: the new kid, the trickster, the social bully, the super-bright and the disaffected; family clashes, divorce and death; an unwed mother whose long-ago actions haven't been forgotten in the small-town setting; class and experiential differences. Mr. Terupt engineers regular visits to the school’s special-needs classroom, changing some lives on both sides. A "Dollar Word" activity so appeals to Luke that he sprinkles them throughout his narrative all year. Danielle includes her regular prayers, and Anna never stops her hopeful matchmaking. No one is perfect in this feel-good story, but everyone benefits, including sentimentally inclined readers. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-73882-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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