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THE GATEKEEPER

A warmhearted, if sometimes overly silly, middle-grade fantasy.

Arnett (Dreamtime, 2019) offers a middle-grade fantasy about a boy who gains access to a magical ream through his library.

Twelve-year-old Billy Bear with Claws thinks that his parents are dull. His father, Frank, is a Lummi Native American geologist, and his mother, Anna, is a Danish paleobotanist. Every summer they leave California to conduct research elsewhere in the world. The rambunctious Billy never joins them; instead, he stays with friends or relatives. This year, while his parents visit Ecuador, he stays with his grandmother on a Lummi reservation near Bellingham, Washington. There, he reunites with his 12-year-old friend Lew Wood; Lew’s 13-year-old sister, Lily; and his grandmother’s dog, Beastie. Once Billy is settled in, he learns that he’ll be volunteering at the Whatcom Library, run by Dr. Julius Jones. Jones has a formidable voice and presence that remind Lew of Darth Vader. Soon, the stranger reveals to Billy that there’s a portal in the library called “the Gateway.” After passing through it, they enter the Imaginary World, where one’s wishes can become reality. Billy meets gnomes who act as guides and help him develop his ability to use “mindspeak,” or telepathic communication. Jones tells Billy that he’s looking for a new Gatekeeper and that Billy and his friends are candidates. Treachery lurks nearby, however, in the form of someone who seeks to profit from the Imaginary World’s endless possibilities. Arnett celebrates diversity, and Lummi culture in particular, in this irreverent middle-grade adventure. Lummi words, such as “Ts’emekwes,” meaning “bigfoot,” help to immerse readers in Pacific Northwest lore. Suki, a Japanese girl who lives inside the Imaginary World, is a late addition to the cast; the outgoing Billy also befriends CC, a shy, unpopular girl whose considerable painting skills aren’t immediately apparent. Robbie Redhawk, a dreamy older boy who fronts a rock band—and who’s won Lily’s heart—adds teenage drama to the proceedings. However, numerous scenes centered on wacky gnome-related shenanigans keep the plot from catching fire until the novel’s final third. In the end, Billy must summon the traits of his namesake—strength, determination, and courage—to tackle the unthinkable, and greater dangers await in a sequel.

A warmhearted, if sometimes overly silly, middle-grade fantasy.

Pub Date: July 4, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-07-596386-5

Page Count: 326

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2019

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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