A bracing adventure—fun, fast, and with themes like love, friendship, and the power of family.
This first installment of a YA fantasy trilogy revolves around a 16-year-old boy who, with the help of some good friends, embarks on a quest to a magical realm to find his mother, who has been missing since he was a toddler.
Geof—nicknamed the Bear because of his 6-foot, 4-inch frame—and his best friend, Jon, aka Jonster the Monster, are looking forward to starting another year at their Sheridan, Wyoming, high school. The area is described as “ground zero for some of the best Native American culture in the country.” When Geof and Jon locate a revered, older Native American storyteller named Donald Deernose who knew Geof’s mother, his revelations change the course of the boys’ lives forever. Deernose tells the teens that Geof’s mother was suffering from a terminal illness and escaped into a magical pond with healing properties and also that she may still be alive. Geof and Jon—along with high school crushes Debbie Marshall and Patricia Chamness—follow Deernose’s instructions and travel to the Medicine Wheel in the Big Horn Mountains. There, after a powerful ritual, they are inexplicably transported to a magical world inhabited by nightmarish monstrosities and wondrous creatures—like a talking cocker spaniel named Uriah, who happens to be a prince. But the quest to find Geof’s mother is temporarily sidelined, as he is identified by the inhabitants as a prophesied hero known as Searcher—“one who can defeat the undefeatable.” In the realm, the evil King Bu-usah has decimated entire regions and starved populations and plans on attacking an idyllic, awe-inspiring place known as the Secret City. With the help of a massive two-headed snake and a magical artifact called the Sceptre, the tyrannical Bu-usah is on the brink of subjugating the entire world. With the group of teens from Wyoming the magical realm’s only hope, Geof and company attempt to steal the Sceptre and stop Bu-usah and his nefarious scheme.
Boucher excels at capturing the YA tone—the dialogue is appropriately witty; the teen angst regarding budding relationships and finding one’s place in the world is authentic; and the insightful description of the high school setting at the beginning of the novel is spot-on: “The bell rang for lunch. Teacher grades were fine for parents, but the lunchroom was where kids received their crucial peer grades. A good peer grade was far more important to any high school student than an ‘A’ in Biology. Lunch was truth serum, where every kid’s place in the pecking order was either earned or assigned.” But the real power here lies in the action-packed storyline, which is not only chock-full of fantastical creatures and locales, but also includes more than a few bombshell plot twists. The author creates a character-driven narrative filled with so many thrills and adventures that fantasy fans will find it difficult to simply stop reading. And although some storyline revelations are a bit predictable, the preponderance of genuinely jaw-dropping plot twists (particularly at the tale’s end) will have readers looking forward to the next installment of the saga.
A bracing adventure—fun, fast, and with themes like love, friendship, and the power of family.Pub Date: March 22, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73652-247-9
Page Count: 358
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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