An enjoyable, funny novel with a thoughtful ethical underpinning.
After visiting the optometrist, a seventh-grader discovers that he can control people’s minds in this comic middle-grade novel.
It’s Ulysses Odysseus Featherton’s 12th birthday, but he doesn’t have much to celebrate. His overly conscientious parents give him unappetizing health food and annoying vocabulary tips in equal measure, and he isn’t exactly the most popular kid at Sunnyvale Middle School; that would be Brayden Flanagan, sports star and shoo-in for seventh-grade class president. No one else is even bothering to run—until Brayden nominates Ulysses as “the weakest, the least popular, the one he was guaranteed to crush in a landslide victory.” Ulysses accepts this, as he doesn’t mind losing so much, but the idea of speaking on stage in front of everyone terrifies him. Today, on his birthday, Ulysses must visit the optometrist, but a substitute is filling in for his usual doctor. Dr. Egnarts (spell it backwards) puts drops in Ulysses’ eyes that somehow allow the boy to make people do the opposite of whatever their intentions are. He uses this power to get junk food for dinner and get out of gym class, which is great—but even better, he can now defeat Brayden. Ulysses discovers, though, that his hunger to win makes him as much of a bully as Brayden ever was. He learns something about himself and gains an unexpected ally. Debut author Brown gives readers an appealing hero with an engaging moral dilemma. At first, Ulysses feels justified in manipulating others, but Brown shows how becomes troubled by his actions: “I had decided that it was somehow more honorable to talk my way into getting what I wanted rather than blink my way into it.” Just because he’s been bullied in the past, Ulysses isn’t portrayed as automatically being in the right, and by the same token, Brayden’s character—at first, a stereotypical middle school bully—is revealed to have surprising, hidden depths. It’s a nice twist, for example, that Brayden has better, more concrete ideas to improve the school than Ulysses does. And Ulysses’ comical, often rueful first-person voice is a big plus as well.
An enjoyable, funny novel with a thoughtful ethical underpinning.Pub Date: April 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5440-5876-4
Page Count: 126
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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