An incredibly inventive fantasist inundates the reader with a cascade of magic, so artfully deployed that it never threatens to weigh down her buoyant story. Christopher (who appears as a full-fledged magician in Charmed Life, etc.) is here an apprentice with access to an array of parallel worlds: in one (12B, recognizably ours), technology began its vigorous growth in the 14th century; in Christopher's (12A), a complex system of available magic seems to be as luxuriant and fascinating (or daunting) as technology is in 12B. Exploring other worlds, Christopher is made the dupe of illicit smugglers of dragon's blood and mermaid parts. Meanwhile, back in 12A, he becomes the Chrestomanci's ward and heir and discovers how he has been used by the evil forces—just in time to make some clever, and daring, rescues. Christopher learns much more than magic—including how he appears to others and what those others are behind their masks, magic and otherwise—as well as loyalty and compassion. Never simplistic, Jones rarely creates a wholly good or wholly evil character. Her ebullient wordplay (the crucial eleventh world is both elven and devilish); her humor both slapstick and satirical; and her prestidigitation with ideas should delight her fans (the wicked Dright says, "I put them [the several lives of Chant's guardian] into the form which is easiest to deal with [a boy]" and, as Jones adds, "Like everything he said, this was full of other meaning").
Pub Date: May 16, 1988
ISBN: 0060298774
Page Count: 266
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1988
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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