Beautiful and precisely depicted, a gentle, generous reflection on civilization and community life.
In this wordless graphic novel, a young space traveler alights upon a deserted Earth and explores the remnants of our world.
A child points a rocket ship toward an unexplored spot on a map of space. The destination is none other than our own planet, devoid of humans but replete with artifacts. After landing and uncovering a stereoscopic viewfinder in a schoolyard time capsule, the protagonist discovers a map scribbled on one of the picture discs and sets out to investigate. The child traipses through neighborhood streets, traverses a once-bustling train depot, and silently surveys civilization’s great achievements in a shadowy museum and a gorgeous library. The viewfinder’s images offer clues to Earth’s emptiness: Humans chose to leave the planet following an infestation of bioluminescent fungi that descended from the sky. They also subtly suggest the photographer’s identity and their unique viewpoint on the Anthropocene’s end. Although this tale touches upon a trope that may be familiar to older readers—the eerie beauty of post-apocalyptic decay—it employs a softer lens to ponder the striving, ephemeral nature of existence. Emphatically cute yet deliberately informative panels in purple, blue, and golden-green hues are inviting and economical. The explorer is tan-skinned, the viewfinder photographer is Black, and the people seen in the images are diverse.
Beautiful and precisely depicted, a gentle, generous reflection on civilization and community life. (Graphic fiction. 6-12)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780735268753
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Bright and quirky; offers an affectionate portrayal of adolescent change.
A teenage witch learns and grows in this first English translation of the second entry in the popular Japanese series that inspired the Studio Ghibli movie Kiki’s Delivery Service.
Kiki the witch is now 14, wiser from lessons learned in her first year as a delivery girl but still seeking a fuller sense of her role in the seaside town of Koriko. Jiji, her black cat, continues to perch beside her as she soars high on her broom, making his snarky comments. After a visit home, Kiki returns to her room above Osono’s bakery; the cheerful baker is now the mother of a toddler. The episodic story structure, which is well-suited for read-alouds, loosely follows the arc of a year in Kiki’s life. The distinctive, detailed storytelling contains depth and humor and is punctuated with lyrics of curious songs. A number of Kiki’s errands involve elderly customers seeking to revisit idyllic memories, but she also unwittingly aids someone who has a questionable quest. Kiki experiences gentle struggles—her broom gets damaged, she admires a floral dress and wonders why witches wear black, and she experiments with going beyond the bounds of her daily routine to make witch medicine. Kiki’s character is refreshingly childlike and nuanced: She possesses at once a playful heart, a burgeoning awareness of her personal power, and a mind that can see the complexities of adulthood without entirely comprehending how to parse them.
Bright and quirky; offers an affectionate portrayal of adolescent change. (Fantasy. 7-12)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9798217227105
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2026
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