A somewhat gangly YA tale that has definite appeal but doesn’t fully grow into its heritage.
Zyburo’s debut novel is a modern-day retelling of the Arthurian myth for a YA audience.
Miles Arthur is a scrappy foster kid who’s routinely used as a punching bag by his foster brother, Kay. Aside from that, though, his home life is about as close to paradise as it can get. He lives on a massive estate with a live-in maid and attends an exclusive private school. However, things start to change for Miles on the day of the state fair. He finally bests Kay in a fencing match; the girl he likes, Gwen, agrees to hang out with him; and he even wins a test-of-strength carnival game shaped like a sword in an anvil. Then things start to get weird: a crazy old man tells him that he’s Merlin, that Miles is King Arthur reincarnated, and that Gwen is Guinevere. He also informs Miles that unless he can find and retrieve the scabbard of the sword Excalibur within the next two weeks, Miles’ foster father will die. Miles must deal with this high-stakes quest on top of school, homework, skirmishes with his brother, and football practice while also trying not to embarrass himself in front of Gwen. Zyburo ably depicts the heightened reality of an overwhelmingly stressful young-adult life. The story also digs deeper into the Arthurian legend than many other derivative works do, which is commendable. However, it’s not a perfect melding; more often than not, the elements taken from the Arthur legend seem like stage dressing or a video-game skin. As a result, the feel of authentic Arthurian romance is frequently lost amid the background noise of the modern setting and contemporary teen dialogue. The quest element is fun, moves at a good pace, and keeps the plot churning, but it doesn’t quite make the story reach the heights of authentic Arthurian drama.
A somewhat gangly YA tale that has definite appeal but doesn’t fully grow into its heritage.Pub Date: April 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-942922-09-4
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Wee Creek Press
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A taut survival story that digs deep into the part of the imagination where the subterranean meets the sublime.
Darkness, loneliness, and unseen danger lurk in an underground cave where a lost young boy waits to be rescued in this debut children’s novel.
Frederick Platt is rightfully apprehensive about joining a boys’ troop called the Woodlanders for a camping trip. Not long after his arrival, the bashful and bookish 11-year-old boy becomes the target of the group’s fierce ringleader, Craig, who leads him into the woods as a peace offering only to abandon him in an underground cave. Now, instead of overcoming his shyness with his fellow campers, Fred finds out what it’s like to be truly alone, without even his books for company. He settles into a cozy routine of searching for openings in the cave, foraging for food, sleeping to preserve his strength, and rationing his flashlight use to preserve the battery while he waits for help to arrive. The pitch-black setting lends an especially spooky ambiance to the adventure, with visceral treats such as dazzling rock formations, slippery bat droppings, and an epicurean description of what bugs taste like. Fred’s tantalizing and terrifying dreams shake him awake, adding to his frustration as he realizes that he is still underground alone. There are light religious undertones as he turns to Bible verses for solace and speaks to a magical crow. Finally, when all hope of rescue is seemingly lost, Fred faces his fear of the strange surroundings, fights through physical pain, and learns what it truly takes to survive. Fuller’s entertaining log ride of an ending is full of twists, turns, and splashes of water. In the illuminating recap of what was happening aboveground, older readers will note that Craig is more than just a bully—his humiliation tactics turn murderous when he fails to tell the adults where he last saw Fred before he went missing. But in retrospect, Fred wishes he would have turned the other cheek, which in this context translates to “don’t poke the bear,” and it’s solid advice for kids. Eerie and wonderfully tense, this tale delivers a strong protagonist grappling with the unknown.
A taut survival story that digs deep into the part of the imagination where the subterranean meets the sublime.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-692-94220-8
Page Count: 110
Publisher: StoryDoor Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fun, competent teen thriller.
This present-day tale offers the grotesque, the depressing, the violent…and then there’s the monster.
Novelist Brillon (The Sound of Falling, 2013) is back—with teens in the throes of being teens. As if life were not hard enough, there is a monster involved, and Jimmy Jervais is eager to show it off. For this, he gathers three kids—Donny Winters, a decent, popular kid at Toreyville Junior High; Corey Reese, a psychopath-in-training; and the loner Quentin Gagnon. Corey and Jimmy and Quentin come from troubled homes or no homes at all. The monster is right from central casting, a nightmare creature complete with glowing red eyes. Jimmy leads them to a clearing in the Big Halo Woods and the hole where he has imprisoned the monster. They feed it squirrels, which it snatches with one huge wrinkled paw and pulls back into the hole. So an uneasy bond is formed—Donny, Corey, and Quentin were never really buddies, and they barely remember Jimmy—and we can be sure that no good will follow. The monster can deliver rough justice, but he isn’t finicky either. The clueless town fathers actually hit upon launching an annual Wumpus fest, to draw in tourists—yes, there is grim comedy at times—but the boys know how real and awful the monster is and that he will haunt them forever. Where did the monster actually come from? And who is Jimmy, really? There is a clue, maybe, on the very last page, but neither we nor Donny nor Quentin will ever truly know, which is the book’s obscene charm. Perhaps it was teen angst raised to the nth power (à la Stephen King’s Carrie). Brillon knows teenagers and their seamy culture. All the details are wonderfully observed; some chapters, like the Dantean hell of a clandestine kegger party, are painfully unforgettable.
A fun, competent teen thriller.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-976148-06-4
Page Count: 392
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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