A delightful drama with well-done supernatural elements that heighten the themes of anger and forgiveness.
In this YA novel from Swanson (Perilous: A Ripple Novel, 2015, etc), a ballet-obsessed teenager in Oregon confronts dangerous sirens, her family’s mysterious history, and, most frightening of all, the need to forgive her mom.
Foulweather, Oregon, is “bucolic without being idyllic,” the sort of town Portlanders visit only if they take a wrong turn. But Foulweather is where Giselle Chekhov and her ballet-fixated family live—despite the danger presented by the enigmatic (and rarely seen) sirens. Giselle’s mother runs the ballet studio there. A star dancer, Giselle seems on track for the title role in a story ballet about menacing spirits, the very piece that she is named after. (And, according to her grandmother, the reason why the sirens are being seen again.) The students in levels four and five at the studio “would all kill to dance the part of Giselle. Giselle Chekhov, however, wouldn’t have to. The role had always been hers,” Giselle muses. But when her mom declares that Giselle is too tall for ballet, she is forced to attend the drama class at her performing arts high school. Fortunately, there’s a sexy boy in the class who makes her feel like she matters. Unfortunately, she has to process her mother’s ballet betrayal, her aching for her dancing life, and the maybe supernatural sirens who visit her in her dreams. Swanson sensitively captures a particular teen experience, detailing Giselle’s occasional bafflement over her immigrant grandmother and mother’s Russian ways, and her drive to succeed at ballet. But while Giselle may face quintessential (or, depending on the reader’s point of view, clichéd) teen dilemmas like getting into romantic trouble, she remains an engaging character, with her love for her younger sister especially well drawn. Swanson’s prose is strong and insightful. (And funny too at times: those who spent time in high school drama class may recognize the truth in Giselle’s arch remark, “Drama students in tears, thought Giselle. What a surprise.”) The author doesn’t offer many reasons to fear for Giselle—for instance, the audition she feels nervous about ends in a standing ovation. But there’s such a strong voice to the characters that it’s a pleasure to spend time with them.
A delightful drama with well-done supernatural elements that heighten the themes of anger and forgiveness.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-939543-36-3
Page Count: 388
Publisher: Williams Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Harry Potter–like threads spun into a fresh, enjoyable mix of magic and mystery.
A teenage orphan enters a curious school and encounters mysteries and dangerous secrets in this first installment of a debut YA fantasy series.
Life in Croswald is about to change for 16-year-old orphan Ivy, a lowly castle maid in charge of the kitchen “scaldrons,” oven-heating, fire-breathing dragons. Fleeing the castle after a messy scaldron mishap, Ivy hops a strange conveyance that transports her to a school for potential quill-wielding, spell-casting “scrivenists.” (The author’s creative language—students are “sqwinches,” and “hairies” are lanterns housing fairies with luminous hair—is one of the book’s pleasures.) Learning that there is more to her gift for sketching than she realized, Ivy studies spells and the magical properties of inks and quills, but strange things keep happening. Why is an old scrivenist, long thought dead, working in secret? Why is the head of the oddly familiar school moving paintings to the “Forgetting Room” so that no one will remember they existed? How can Ivy get a look at a certain journal stored there, and what does it have to do with her recurrent dream? And why has Ivy drawn the interest of the Dark Queen of Croswald and her truly fearsome Cloaked Brood? The intrigue is layered with such whimsical inventions as one school lunchroom run by ghostly bad cooks and another by a jester who is best avoided, scrivenists who end their lives as tomes in a library, and small houses pulled by a gargantuan flying beast with its own weather system. Yes, there are many Harry Potter–ish elements: a school for young wand-wielders, quirky shops dealing in enchanted student supplies, eccentric characters, spells gone wrong, an evil pursuer. But Night’s blend of magic, danger, and suspense (and a touch of steampunk) is a well-realized, fresh fantasy world all its own, and Ivy is an appealing protagonist of relatable complexity. A few bobbles: Ivy seems to go without food for long stretches; the use of “effected” rather than “affected”; a professor who is both standing and perched on a chair.
Harry Potter–like threads spun into a fresh, enjoyable mix of magic and mystery.Pub Date: July 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9969486-5-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Stories Untold Press
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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