In a letter-writing twist, a boy asks Santa what he wants for Christmas. Holly is born, and her fate seems sealed when the warlock Herrikhan curses the baby with a cold heart, which he hopes to claim when she matures. Cursed himself, Herrikhan must possess the purest heart to obtain his freedom. Holly’s curse affects everyone in Forever, Land of the Immortals, as she must live in cold conditions to keep her heart alive and no new souls may enter Forever. The only immortal who hasn’t proven herself worthy of the honor, Holly finds a way to reach Victorian Empire City (a.k.a. New York), where she brings magic to children, finds true love, and crushes Herrikhan’s curse. This story strives to be an original fairy tale, but fails with trite narration and melodramatic dialogue. Grotesque violence abruptly jars the saccharine tone at times. Ryan even changes traditional toy-making elves into cranky goblins who dress up as elves for reporters. The only noteworthy features are Long’s exquisite, detailed illustrations. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-058511-0
Page Count: 560
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2004
Georgie's story will capture readers' imaginations with the very first sentences and then hold them hostage until the final...
In 1871, in the small town of Placid, Wis., a sister goes missing and a great adventure begins.
Disconsolate over the end of a promising courtship, Agatha Burkhardt runs off without so much as a goodbye to her younger sister, Georgie. When the sheriff attempts to locate and retrieve Agatha, he brings home not the vibrant sister that Georgie adores, but an unidentifiable body wearing Agatha’s ball gown. Alone in her belief that the body is not her sister’s, Georgie sneaks away in the dead of night, determined to retrace Agatha’s steps in order to solve the mystery of her disappearance and, she hopes, to bring her home. To Georgie's surprise, she’s joined on the journey by her sister’s former flame. And what a journey it is, fraught with mountain lions, counterfeiters and marriage proposals. The truly memorable characters and setting—particularly descriptions of the incredible phenomenon of passenger-pigeon nesting and migration—and the gradual unraveling of the mystery of Agatha’s disappearance make this one hard to put down. The icing on the cake, though, is Georgie’s narration, which is fresh, laugh-out-loud funny and an absolute delight to read.
Georgie's story will capture readers' imaginations with the very first sentences and then hold them hostage until the final page is turned. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-375-86925-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
Out of the nuclear fallout springs a moving tale of love and loss.
The citizens of the town of Pripyat, Ukraine, have always been assured that “an accident at a nuclear power station was a statistical impossibility.”
So when the morning of April 26, 1986, dawns red, with “unearthly blue” smoke billowing into the air, life proceeds as normal. Fifth grade classmates and rivals Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko, however, are worried. Their fathers, night-shift plant workers at the Chernobyl power station, have not yet come home. Soon word gets out that reactor No. 4 has exploded, killing several workers and sending the rest en masse to the hospital, poisoned by the very air they breathe. Forced together by the sudden evacuation, the girls must overcome both their hatred of each other and the grief heaped upon them by the accident as they forge a new life in Leningrad with Valentina’s estranged grandmother, who harbors a dangerous secret. Blankman spins a stunningly complex tale out of simple words. By focusing her account on only the two young girls, Blankman situates the seemingly distant horror of the disaster in a firmly human context. Extensive research on historical events, names, cityscapes, and living situations enriches the story, which alternates perspective among Valentina, Oksana, and Rifka, Valentina’s grandmother. Rifka’s chapters take place during World War II, which initially deflects focus from the story somewhat, but they quickly find their place as the story’s heart as they introduce the blackbird, a symbol of eternal friendship. Ukrainian characters are assumed White; Valentina’s family is Jewish.
Out of the nuclear fallout springs a moving tale of love and loss. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3735-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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