Ten-year-old Jake’s holiday season gets off to an inauspicious start when his widowed mom slips on the ice in a mall parking lot before Christmas and has to be hospitalized. Shortly thereafter the paternal grandfather he hardly knows and little remembers comes to the rescue from out of town and into Jake’s life. Potentially making matters worse is his grandfather’s boon companion, the “nightmare dog” Max. Jake—and readers—need not fear, though. A warm, caring gem of an older next-door neighbor who has always been there for the family proves more nurturing than ever, and assorted family members and friends also leap into the fray to help with Jake’s care. Gradually the gruff exterior of ex-Marine Granddad melts away, revealing the loving softie he’s always been, and boy and grandfather—and dog—come to understand each other and bond. This is a sweet story, with the sort of kind, supportive people young readers should know in life as in literature. Narrator Jake’s a good kid, though at times his self-awareness seems beyond his years. Pleasant and satisfying. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-375-85630-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS
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Young Seren Rhys stands on the cusp of a new life. Unfortunately for her, the train to her new life is late.
Following the death of her aunt, who saved her from her 12-year stay at the orphanage, she receives word that her godfather, Capt. Arthur Jones, will take her in. Seren spends her wait dreaming of the Jones family and their surely bustling, welcoming manor, Plas-y-Fran in Wales. An encounter with a mysterious man and his more mysterious wrapped parcel (containing the eponymous mechanical bird) leaves Seren reeling, and the mysteries multiply when she arrives at Plas-y-Fran. The place is shuttered and cold, nearly deserted but for a few fearful, oppressively unforthcoming servants. The captain and his wife are away; of their young son, Tomos, there is neither sign nor sound. With the Crow as her only, if reluctant, ally, Seren soon finds herself enmeshed in mayhem and magic that may prove lethal. In her characteristic style, Fisher crafts an elaborate fantasy from deceptively simple language. Seren is a sharp, saucy narrator whose constant puzzlement at others’ consternation over her impertinence provides running amusement. Supporting characters are fascinating if ambiguous players, not so much poorly drawn as poorly revealed, perhaps casualties of the quick pace. The deadened manor, however, provides the perfect backdrop for preternatural forces. Characters are presumed white.
A richly atmospheric page-turner—readers will eagerly anticipate the forthcoming sequel. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1491-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Walker US/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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One strange afternoon, 10-year-old Micah Tuttle finds out that magic is real.
Micah always thought Grandpa Ephraim’s wild stories of the centuries-old Circus Mirandus were spun solely for his amusement. But when his dying grandfather writes a letter to the “Lightbender,” hoping to call in the miracle the magician had promised him as a boy, Micah learns the stories were true, and the appearance of Ms. Chintzy, the circus’ cantankerous parrot messenger, clinches the deal. Happily, Micah finds a loyal if somewhat challenging friend to help him track down the elusive light-bending magician: the magic-leery, science-minded Jenny Mendoza. Their budding rapport is nuanced and complex, a refreshing illustration of how absolute like-mindedness is not a prerequisite for friendship. On one level, the book is a fantastical circus romp, with fortunetelling vultures and “a wallaby that could burp the Greek alphabet.” On another, it’s both serious and thick with longing: Micah’s ache for the companionship of his once-vital guardian-grandfather; Grandpa Ephraim’s boyhood yearning for his absent father, as fleshed out in flashbacks; the circus founders’ desire to keep enchantment alive in a world where “faith is such a fragile thing.”
A delicious confection and much more: it shows that the human heart is delicate, that it matters, and that it must be handled with care. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: June 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-525-42843-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
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