Someday, Miggy wants to tell a story that will make everyone say, “Wow!”
Miggy stays behind every summer while her friends migrate with their families to hunt mammoths. When they return, she looks forward to hearing about their adventures. Just once, Miggy wants to have an experience of her own to relate. With this, Regan develops Miggy's cave-character and her home in the Triassic Forest. Readers share Miggy's excitement when she finds a dragon stone and learns it is as magical as the Clan's wise grannies have said it is when she wishes on it to escape Velociraptors and to help her brother. In this early chapter book with unexpected depth, Miggy experiences an ethical dilemma when she wonders if it is right to keep the power to herself. Her question is answered when she and the grannies are trapped by thrashing Spinosauruses, and she must give it up for them all to be saved. Miggy may no longer hold the stone, but she has been granted her greatest wish: Finally, Miggy has an adventure to tell her friends.
Sticklers for accuracy about the Triassic Period may have trouble with the premise, but most newly independent readers will look forward to more encounters with dinosaurs, humans and the first mammals as the series continues. (illustrated cast of characters, map) (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5974-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Eleven-year-old Maria Russo helps her charlatan mother hoodwink customers, but Maria has a spirited secret.
Maria’s mother, the psychic Madame Destine, cons widows out of their valuables with the assistance of their apartment building’s super, Mr. Fox. Madame Destine home-schools Maria, and because Destine is afraid of unwanted attention, she forbids Maria from talking to others. Maria is allowed to go to the library, where new librarian Ms. Madigan takes an interest in Maria that may cause her trouble. Meanwhile, Sebastian, Maria’s new upstairs neighbor, would like to be friends. All this interaction makes it hard for Maria to keep her secret: that she is visited by Edward, a spirit who tells her the actual secrets of Madame Destine’s clients via spirit writing. When Edward urges Maria to help Mrs. Fisher, Madame Destine’s most recent mark, Maria must overcome her shyness and her fear of her mother—helping Mrs. Fisher may be the key to the mysterious past Maria uncovers and a brighter future. Alas, picture-book–creator Ford’s middle-grade debut is a muddled, melodramatic mystery with something of an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel: In addition to the premise, there’s a tragically dead father, a mysterious family tree, and the Beat poets. Sluggish pacing; stilted, unrealistic dialogue; cartoonishly stock characters; and unattractive, flat illustrations make this one to miss. Maria and Sebastian are both depicted with brown skin, hers lighter than his; the other principals appear to be white.
An effort as insubstantial as any spirit. (author’s note) (Paranormal mystery. 7-10)Pub Date: July 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-20567-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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Jaxon and his friends deal with the fallout from the theft of one of the baby dragons in his charge.
As this sequel to Dragons in a Bag (2018) opens, Kavita, the titular dragon thief, introduces elderly Aunty to stolen baby dragon Mo. Thankfully, Aunty knows someone in Queens who can help return Mo to the realm of magic. Meanwhile, and in alternating first-person chapters, Jax is trying to find Kavi and Mo, as Mo’s siblings have grown ill as a result of the separation, as has Ma, Jax’s magical mentor and grandmother figure. Jax again teams up with his best friend and Kavi’s older brother, Vik. A third is added to their crew with “huge” Kenny, “the biggest kid in [their] class.” (Unfortunately, much is made of Kenny’s size, which feels gratuitous and unkind.) Eventually the trio finds Kavi, Aunty, and Mo, who’ve been abducted by a magical con artist. All’s well that ends well when Sis, the powerful guardian of the magic realm, shows up, but readers may wonder why the narrative decides to grapple with her choice not to intervene in injustice in our world. Her argument that human-caused problems are for humans to solve feels undeveloped, especially in the face of a massive injustice like the trans-Atlantic slave trade (mentioned during the climax and at no other point). Jax is black; Vik, Kavi, and Aunty are Indian American (though Aunty has African ancestry as well); and Kenny is white. The rest of the cast is diverse as well.
Despite missteps, this satisfying follow-up will leave readers hoping for more magical adventures with lovable Jax and company. (Urban fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7049-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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