A charming fable with an important message for young readers.
A princess’ search for true love sends her on a voyage of self-discovery in Lewis’ debut YA fantasy.
Misty Miles, the 20-year-old princess of Starryton and the beloved daughter of King Reginald and Queen Eliza, worries that her subjects may discover her secret: ever since childhood, she’s been in a wheelchair due to a disability that has left her unable to walk and makes it difficult to use her hands. Her parents have kept her hidden from public view in the castle, but she yearns to go out and explore her kingdom. She also wants to meet Prince Derrick of the neighboring kingdom of Mooncrest. On the eve of her 21st birthday, she leaves the castle, accompanied by her service dog, Dex, to seek out a troll named Trovella, who grants her the temporary ability to walk and dance. The prince only has three days to fall in love with her, Trovella tells her. Misty and Derrick soon meet and sparks fly, but, despite her happiness, Misty knows the prince will soon learn the truth. Later, with the encouragement of Kara, a young, disabled orphan, Misty gets the opportunity to prove that she has the leadership skills that the kingdom needs. Lewis’ fantasy is an empowering tale of a young woman who discovers her inner strength while also finding unconditional love and support. Misty is an appealing heroine who doesn’t let her disability prevent her from seeing the world or finding love. Lewis, who has a disability herself, poignantly explores her protagonist’s determination to experience life outside the castle walls. She also offers a well-developed portrait of Misty’s day-to-day life, from the companionship of her service dog to the assistance that she needs to perform daily tasks, such as dressing or brushing her teeth. She also surrounds Misty with strong supporting characters: Derrick is a sensitive, compassionate romantic foil, and the character of Kara will raise readers’ awareness of the needs of orphans with disabilities.
A charming fable with an important message for young readers.Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-55955-0
Page Count: 136
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 7, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
King handles his first novel with considerable accomplishment and very little hokum—it's only too easy to believe that these...
Figuratively and literally shattering moments of hoRRRRRipilication in Chamberlain, Maine where stones fly from the sky rather than from the hands of the villagers (as they did in "The Lottery," although the latter are equal to other forms of persecution).
All beginning when Carrie White discovers a gift with telekinetic powers (later established as a genetic fact), after she menstruates in full ignorance of the process and thinks she is bleeding to death while the other monsters in the high school locker room bait and bully her mercilessly. Carrie is the only child of a fundamentalist freak mother who has brought her up with a concept of sin which no blood of the Lamb can wash clean. In addition to a sympathetic principal and gym teacher, there's one girl who wishes to atone and turns her date for the spring ball over to Carrie who for the first time is happy, beautiful and acknowledged as such. But there will be hell to pay for this success—not only her mother but two youngsters who douse her in buckets of fresh-killed pig blood so that Carrie once again uses her "wild talent," flexes her mind and a complete catastrophe (explosion and an uncontrolled fire) virtually destroys the town.
King handles his first novel with considerable accomplishment and very little hokum—it's only too easy to believe that these youngsters who once ate peanut butter now scrawl "Carrie White eats shit." But as they still say around here, "Sit a spell and collect yourself."Pub Date: April 8, 1974
ISBN: 0385086954
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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