This latest entry in Jones' Chrestomanci series posits the surfacing of young witches in the closed, confined world of a traditional (though co-ed) boarding school, in a time after witchcraft has been stamped out but inquisitors are still afoot. A witch's gifts commonly show themselves around age eleven, which is just what happens here—to the terror and discomfort of Charles, who holds his finger to the candle flame to remind himself that "burning hurts"; the temporary joy of fat pariah Nan, who's delighted with her change in status; and the likely enjoyment of readers treated to the boarding-school intrigues and spellbound indiscretions. With the coming out of Nan and Charles, relationships shift, all hell breaks loose, more witches (one of them a teacher) reveal themselves, and when things get too hot the arch-enchanter Chrestomanci shows up, summoned by spell from a parallel world. This dapper gentleman settles in at the school, posing as divisional inquisitor and occasioning more shakeups, some of them quite unwelcome to the witches. There is also much exposition about the many parallel worlds of the series: The one in the story, where witchcraft is common but illegal, seems to be a redundant twin of another (ours?) . . . to which it is joined in the explosive classroom finale. And so the whole business is negated in a pouf of Guy Fawkes smoke—but it's larkish fun while the sparks fly.
Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1982
ISBN: 0060298790
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1982
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
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