A wonderful tale of magic and astonishing transformations.
In Noyes’ middle-grade adventure, a boy attends an extraordinary school for young shape-shifters.
Ricky Chase has spent all 12 years of his life in a Manhattan-based group foster home. His everyday routine is unexpectedly shaken when a man called Mr. Tomner visits him and his fellow orphans. This enigmatic figure gives Ricky the chance to fulfill his potential as a denizen—a human with the ability to transform into an animal. His training will occur at the American Preserve, a school in an otherworldly realm where adolescent denizens take such courses as Channeling and Mental Influence. Ricky doesn’t know which animal he’ll become, let alone if he’ll even be able to change into one. If he can, he’ll join other denizens in battling the evil Skahdi, who transform into strange animal hybrids (such as a warrior with “the head of a bear, body of a scorpion, and legs of a wasp”). Disturbingly, the Skahdi, who include a “grandmaster denizen” turncoat, may have a spy or spies in the Preserve as well. Noyes’ novel features an endearingly bright and warmhearted hero who wishes that he were more courageous. As the story progresses, he picks up details about his mother, whom he believes abandoned him. The overall premise is certainly familiar, with a young orphan joining a school that teaches magic (in this case, an ancient power called Ruakh). But an effervescent cast puts this work a cut above others in the genre, from charming Ralph Bleddyn, who befriends Ricky early on, to Kyland Taurean, a Preserve mentor and former Skahwhom some don’t trust. The novel includes some delightful lighter touches as well, such as dialogue that hints at each denizen’s animal; one character, who morphs into a bee, has buzzy mannerisms (“He wazzz foolish…”). Although the ending is satisfying, it will leave readers wanting more opportunities to watch Ricky evolve.
A wonderful tale of magic and astonishing transformations.Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9798993541129
Page Count: 372
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2025
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
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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