At once enchanting, heart-rending, and bittersweet—just as Elodee would want it.
Does perfection mean the erasure of all pain? Elodee wonders.
Elodee’s family needs a fresh start; everyone says so. The Lively family relocates to Eventown, a planned utopia where there’s no internet, TV, or cars, and all the houses look the same. Fifth-grader Elodee can’t wait to bake, while her identical twin sister, Naomi, looks forward to gymnastics. Part mystery, part fabulism, with a dash of dystopia, this story is as layered and delicious as one of Elodee’s concoctions. In the preteen’s narration, readers immediately see the town’s appeal. Who could resist a special, personalized event in Eventown’s Welcoming Center? After telling your stories—the scariest, most embarrassing, most heartbreaking, loneliest, angriest, and most joyful—your memories are locked away, freeing you for the happiness of Eventown. Reluctant to give away all her stories, Elodee begins to notice imperfections and question her surroundings—the weeds in their yard, how she and Naomi are drifting apart, what exactly her family wanted to forget. It’s the last that drives Elodee to search for the truth about her past. In the process, she awakens Eventown’s citizens to their feelings and connects her family through their shared stories. Although not as dark as The Giver, the narrative will evoke comparisons about the nature of perfection and the importance of memories. The Livelys present white, as does most of Eventown; one family integral to the plot is originally from India.
At once enchanting, heart-rending, and bittersweet—just as Elodee would want it. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-268980-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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