A pleasant romp for plot-happy readers.
On a journey to save his parents, a boy gets lost in an enchanted forest in this new graphic fantasy.
After retrieving medicine from a nearby village, Kerry is desperate to find the quickest way home to his ailing parents. When he finds a childlike spirit at the edge of the Forest of Shadows, he follows her into the woods, hoping for a shortcut. Soon, Kerry comes across a large, kite-shaped black stone with one singular piercing yellow eye. Floating above the ground and called the Knight of the Road, the creature is a Waystone whose role is to help travelers find safe passage through the forest. The last of his kind, he agrees to help Kerry navigate the perilous wood. But their journey isn’t easy, and Kerry’s naïve, earnest, and trusting personality sometimes grates on the grumpy, mysterious Waystone. When they learn that an evil force is vying for control of the forest’s creatures, Kerry must decide if he will attempt to free everyone from its spell, endangering both himself and his parents, or return home quickly to his sick family. While some of the plotting, particularly the denouement, feels contrived, readers will be happy to find such a tidy, happy ending. Overall, characterization takes a back seat to plot and adventure, an emphasis furthered by the simplicity of characters’ facial features. Character sheets, including a guide to creating your own character, and early concept art are included in the back.
A pleasant romp for plot-happy readers. (Graphic fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-12523-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
In this middle-grade graphic novel, young Claire is distressed to discover that her family is about to move from their home in the city to the all-too-rural town of Bellevale. Claire’s parents are starting a new organic bakery, and their fights only serve to worry their daughter further. Just when Claire has settled in and made a new friend named Jet, her mom disappears with an artificial-flavoring salesman. Clearly sneaky dealings are afoot and it’s up to Clair and Jet to solve the mystery. What starts out as a perfectly nice bit of realistic fiction about making new friends and dealing with parental disputes ends up morphing into a bizarre and didactic tale of evil artificial ingredients and corporate domination. The art does little to improve the basic problems with tone. And while the recipes in the back of the book look yummy, there is a self-righteousness to this sketchily drawn story that will leave a bad taste in the reader’s mouth. (Graphic fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-55453-286-5
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
In these retooled versions of Max’s Logbook (2003) and Max’s Mystical Logbook (2004), Moss discards the graph-paper backgrounds, expands the role of a small green pencil-topper that is (at least in the young narrator’s mind) a visitor from space with telepathic powers and remixes lightly revised text and art. In the setup episode Max draws comics, lays out simple science demonstrations (“Experiment #1: What happens when you microwave a marshmallow?”) and turns a bucket full of pencil erasers into action figures by drawing faces on them—all while watching and fretting about his parents’ separation. Max Disaster #2: Alien Eraser Unravels the Mystery of the Pyramids (ISBN: 978-0-7656-3385-5; paper: 978-0-7636-4408-6) features more of the same as he and his best buddy Omar work on a school project offering “proof” that aliens built the Egyptian pyramids. Max’s narrative being thickly interspersed with small color illustrations and neatly lettered captions, comments and dialogue balloons, even novice chapter-book readers will have no trouble following along—and could well catch Max’s interests in science, or at least eraser decoration to boot. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3577-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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