A high-stakes, if sometimes frustrating, magical journey that’s brimming with messages of friendship and acceptance.
In this second series entry, more than a decade has passed since Juniper and Rafferty’s adventures.
Elio Gale, 13, a white-presenting animal caretaker for the traveling Circus Astra, enjoys circus life but longs for something new. His risk-averse circus bookkeeper father tries to extinguish his dreams, but adventure soon finds Elio when the circus heads toward the queen’s court, prompting terror from his father. Unbeknownst to Elio, his ma’s pendant, which he wears, holds great power, and in fact, Elio himself may be the key to the island of Whetherwhy’s fate. Escaping with his friend Pom Li, who’s nonbinary, tone-deaf, and recently expelled from Bard School, Elio travels to Thistledown Academy of Enchantment. The pair meet characters from the first book who help them work to protect Elio, the island, and its magic from the nefarious, power-hungry queen. Although invested series fans will appreciate revisiting familiar characters, some may be frustrated by the time jump and change in protagonists. Elio and his friends are compelling, but the narrative occasionally gets bogged down in exposition, drawing focus from the stakes. The frame story again centers on a man who’s narrating the adventure to his grandchildren; while it detracts from the main narrative, it offers moments of emotional validation and sometimes invites reflection on how we engage with stories. A cryptic cliffhanger ending may leave readers dissatisfied. Wyatt’s illustrations add drama and intrigue.
A high-stakes, if sometimes frustrating, magical journey that’s brimming with messages of friendship and acceptance. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9780593691939
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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