An engrossing fantasy laced with inventive sparkle and dark undercurrents.
A debut middle-grade novel sees a teenage loner discover his magical heritage and become embroiled in an otherworldly conflict.
Middle schooler Wren Larkin lives in Pennsylvania in a peculiar old house designed by his grandfather to resemble a gigantic shoe. Wren has an affinity with nature. He grows plants and befriends a murder of crows. But otherwise, he keeps to himself. Wren’s mother fell into a coma when he was 4 years old. His father is emotionally distant, and his eccentric aunt—the one who told him crazy stories of a magical kingdom named Vinland—died a few years back in a car accident, or so Wren was told. But Wren’s life is about to be turned upside down. The same day he thinks he sees his aunt in the fog, new girl Maria Tovar arrives at school and takes an instant liking to him. She also defends the class troublemaker, Rusty Whitaker. Before Wren knows it, the three are thrown together against a powerful Drainer (a magician who can suck the life out of any living thing). In a world suddenly bristling with magic, Wren and his new friends are armed only with three pairs of enchanted shoes that the teen’s grandfather left for them years ago in a secret room in the quirky house. Were all of his aunt’s stories true? What further secrets lie hidden in Wren’s lineage? In this series opener, Resh writes in the first person, past tense, creating in Wren a complex personality with relatable teen troubles but plenty of strength. The other characters are less nuanced—Rusty in particular is larger than life, verging on a cliché—but this perhaps is in keeping with the infusion of magic in what Wren had taken to be his own, admittedly atypical, corner of the mundane world. The prose throughout is engaging, with the author presenting an agreeable mix of description, narrative, and mostly naturalistic dialogue. The plot is absorbing and gains momentum as it goes along, displaying a wild imagination and pitting its protagonists against genuine peril. The ending may not satisfy those readers who like their books self-contained, but for those who can move directly to the sequel, there’s a great deal here to like.
An engrossing fantasy laced with inventive sparkle and dark undercurrents.Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-954614-50-5
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Warren Publishing, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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