A pleasant and informative, if sometimes messy, read about ecological responsibility.
In this middle-grade adventure, three diverse teens fight to save endangered animals.
Aisyah Muti, Kirri King, and Hector Alvarez live in different places around the world but share two important things: their love for endangered creatures and the environmental fires that changed their lives. Sixteen-year-old Aisyah toils on a palm oil plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia—until a forest fire leaves her with devastating injuries and permanent scars. Aisyah is rescued by an orangutan named Pongo, whom the teen saved as a baby and who now has an infant of her own. Their bond leads Aisyah to leave the plantation and work with her father at a wildlife rescue facility. In western Australia, Indigenous teen Kirri is a dedicated runner with big dreams. But when her ultramarathon is interrupted by a devastating fire, she focuses her energy on nurturing a baby wallaby she calls Bultarro (the Aboriginal name for wallaby), who has her own challenges. Meanwhile in Northern California, Hector is an enthusiastic member of his school’s Youth Audubon Club who, with the help of his teachers, is training a hawk called Swain to hunt until a deadly wildfire leaves the teen with physical limitations. When Hector finds Aisyah and Kirri in an online support group, the three immediately grow close—but as they will soon learn, not everyone has the best of intentions when it comes to their beloved animals. Datnow, a former creative writing teacher and native of South Africa, demonstrates her passion for ecology on every page through descriptions of creature care and feeding, maps of each area featured in the story, and uncredited photographs. A guide at the end of the book points interested readers toward more resources from NASA and Cornell University as well as the United States government. The tale is educational but not condescending to its middle-grade audience, though at times the characters act younger than teenagers, with spontaneous and childish outbursts. Additionally, the author uses outdated terms for disabilities, and there is a sudden change of perspective (third person to first person) without warning or explanation.
A pleasant and informative, if sometimes messy, read about ecological responsibility.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-99-694469-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Media Mint Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Atmospheric but at times frustratingly flat.
A recent transplant wrestles with her seaside town’s complicated and ghostly history.
Twelve-year-old Mallory Denton has moved from Chicago to a tiny New England town. Eastport, Massachusetts, is a popular tourist destination, relying on its long and spooky history to keep its economy thriving. Its attractions include Mallory’s parents’ creepily themed restaurant that abuts a cemetery. Sweet Molly’s is Eastport’s most famous story, commemorated as the chief attraction in an annual parade. The legend tells of the time Molly Flanders McMulligan Marshall lost her twin brother, Liam, at sea when the townspeople pressured him to go out in his fishing boat even as a dangerous storm approached. After Mallory begins to see Molly in visions and nightmares, she must find a way to break Molly’s curse on the town before the vengeful ghost can exact her furious otherworldly revenge on the town that monetizes and celebrates her trauma. In tense, fast-paced chapters, Currie concocts a chilling setting replete with haunting spectral scares set in a town with an accessible but intriguingly complicated history. However, the thrills ultimately fizzle, as much is told rather than shown and pivotal plot points are revealed too soon and resolved too quickly and tidily. While some scenes are chillingly rendered, they lose their panache when juxtaposed against moments of cloying predictability. Most characters read as White.
Atmospheric but at times frustratingly flat. (Horror. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72823-654-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
A strong start to a new series in the ever-popular Warriors world: Legions of fans will purr.
Increased evidence of encroachment by Twolegs and other ominous signs of change roil the five feline Clans of the lake territories in this kickoff of a new story arc.
In intertwined storylines, a distracting voice in a young apprentice’s head takes on increasingly scary strength, disturbing visions inform an experienced warrior that she’s been chosen by the spirit guides of StarClan to play an unwanted role in impending troubles, and a wise but weakening Clan leader faces being voted out of office due to her age. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Twolegs are tearing up a forested area, poisoning an important stream, and possibly threatening all the established territories of the five Clans. Avid series fans will welcome encounters with older versions of Leafstar, Tawnypelt, and other stalwarts whom they met in previous episodes. Detailed maps labeling the terrain in both cat and Twoleg terms appear at the beginning of the book, along with a cast list of truly imposing length, helping any readers who need reminders to keep track of the dozens of relationships and Clan affiliations. Better yet, expertly mixed in among dreams and discussions that crank up the general level of anxiety, the book has enough incidental action and individual wrestling with personal issues to help the main characters stand out from the furry crowd.
A strong start to a new series in the ever-popular Warriors world: Legions of fans will purr. (Animal fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063357068
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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