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CHOSEN ONES

Name: CHOSEN ONES
Author: Alister McGrath
ISBN: 978-0-310-71812-3

THE AEDYN CHRONICLES, BOOK ONE

by Alister McGrath ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2010

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A slight but engaging fantasy wilts under the burden of religious allegory. Julia and Peter, two teenage siblings in an oddly atemporal Oxford, are whisked into the alternate land of Aedyn and tasked with freeing those enslaved by a brutal trio of sorcerors. While the prose is competent and some of the imagery lovely, the narrative relies on an uninspired retread of generic fantasy tropes. Characterization rarely rises above gender essentialism and heavy-handed symbolism: Peter, representing “Science,” is clever and well-meaning but also smug, untrustworthy and led astray by blind naturalism; Julia, as “Faith,” in contrast, is compassionate, imaginative and open-minded, if prone to leaping to conclusions. The villains are bullies and buffoons, with no function beyond being Evil. Between overtly telegraphing Good Guys and Bad Guys and dropping in wildly convenient magical powers and overheard bits of exposition, the plot carefully defuses any hint of suspense. By the point the rebels stage a blatant appropriation of Passover, all pretense at subtlety is discarded. Pleasing, perhaps, for its target audience, but they deserve better; Narnia this ain’t. (Fantasy. 10-14)

Pub Date: May 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-310-71812-3

Page Count: 195

Publisher: Zonderkidz

Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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HEROES OF THE WATER MONSTER

by Brian Young ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2023

Thought-provoking and full of heart; a genuinely pleasurable read.

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Before he ages out of seeing Holy Beings, Nathan must find water monster Dew a mentor.

A couple of years after the events of Healer of the Water Monster (2021), Nathan’s life in Phoenix, Arizona, is changing—he and his mother, Janet, are moving in with Janet’s boyfriend and his son, the book’s co-protagonist, Edward. More than that, Nathan’s going through puberty and knows his time with Dew is limited—her new guardian will be Edward. But to ensure that Dew learns the water monster songs, she needs a mentor. Nathan wants it to be powerful water monster Yitoo Bi’aanii, who eagerly returns to the Fourth World. Upon seeing how her river has dwindled, Yitoo declares that an Enemy is stealing the water. The quest to thwart the Enemy is quickly complicated as the stakes rise and the heroes face conflicting loyalties. The environmentalist narrative embraces nuance and complications, avoiding easy answers without undermining the possibility of a hopeful future. Edward, newly informed of his Diné family’s brutal relocation era story, also struggles with inherited trauma, while Yitoo, who was witness to the violence, carries the atrocities with her. Additionally, Edward grapples with the fact that his late mother was White and with being the only household member who is not fully Diné. The bittersweet ending is as beautiful as the prose describing the fantastical journey to get there.

Thought-provoking and full of heart; a genuinely pleasurable read. (author’s note, glossary, note from Cynthia Leitich Smith) (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: May 23, 2023

ISBN: 9780062990433

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Heartdrum

Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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A PLACE AT THE TABLE

by Saadia Faruqi & Laura Shovan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 11, 2020

This tale of a diverse friendship tackles hard topics.

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An after-school South Asian cooking class sparks an unlikely friendship.

Pakistani American sixth grader Sara is sick of cooking. It’s bad enough that the demands of her mother’s catering business fill Sara’s free time. But when her mother starts teaching a South Asian cuisine class at Poplar Springs Middle School, the school Sara transfers to from her beloved Islamic school, Iqra Academy, she’s forced not only to watch her mother cook, but also to watch her new, xenophobic classmates balk at Sara’s favorite spices. Elizabeth, on the other hand, loves cooking—perhaps because her English-immigrant mother, who suffers from depression, and her American-born father, who is always traveling, never seem to find the time to make proper meals. When Elizabeth is paired with Sara, the two of them form a friendship—until Elizabeth’s best friend’s racism threatens to separate them just when they need each other most. Writing in alternating voices, the authors elegantly interweave issues of racism, financial insecurity, and mental illness into a familiar middle school narrative of identity formation. Sara’s character is particularly well drawn: Her affectionate family, her insistence on Elizabeth’s responsibility to stand up to her white, racist friends, and her love of her culture and religion are refreshingly authentic. Elizabeth’s mostly secular Jewish family life will also ring familiar to many readers. At times, however, the narration verges on preachy, and the dialogue feels more mature than the average sixth grade banter.

This tale of a diverse friendship tackles hard topics. (Fiction. 10-14)