An amusing adventure story with a few flaws but great empathy for kids’ feelings.
A boy with problems gains a helpful green dragon friend in this debut middle-grade novel.
Narrator Domingo “Ding” Diaz, 11, of South Los Angeles is finding life difficult lately. He wants to stay away from trouble but a gang is pressuring him to join its ranks; he’s been getting into fights; and his schoolwork has suffered. Far worse than any of this, Ding’s mother died and the boy blames himself. Running heedlessly away from a doctor’s appointment, Ding is hit by a bus—and finds himself in a strange world. He’s been saved from annihilation by a small, raspy-voiced dragon called Green Flash, who welcomes Ding to “Dragon Central,” a planet in a parallel universe. But Ding might be stuck there forever unless he can get back to the Gateway Tree, which he ran from against Flash’s advice. Now the tree, Ding’s only ticket home, is being guarded by a dangerous dragon. Also perilous are the cannibalistic humanoid Droods. Ding and Flash journey in search of a way home and meet Dunya, a girl from a tribe of ancient Sumerians. Complications arise when a dragon hatchling mistakenly imprints on Dunya—infuriating the creature’s actual mother. To return home, Ding must use his wits while also working through guilt and grief over his mother’s death. In his book, retired pediatrician Briley uses his background to bring a good deal of sympathy and understanding to Ding’s burdens. The boy very much wants to be cool and tough, but covers it up with bravado: “No one and nothing dings Ding,” he yells—while running away. The pace is a bit slow, and the humor can be heavy-handed, as when Flash can’t explain the phrase “in a nutshell” in a nutshell, or when Ding and Flash exchange needling banter. Dunya begs them to “stop carping at each other,” a sentiment that readers may agree with. Debut illustrator Durand brings characters and settings alive with his well-drafted, black-and-white drawings.
An amusing adventure story with a few flaws but great empathy for kids’ feelings.Pub Date: Nov. 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-63490-896-2
Page Count: 206
Publisher: Booklocker.com, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sloppy first novel that shows glimmers of promise.
A boy wizard afflicted with a rare disease battles the forces of evil in this debut fantasy novel.
Feslen Raster, an adopted 14-year-old boy suffering from a rare blood disorder, is viewed as “abnormal”–by official edict, all abnormal citizens are to be kept out of sight. Only his adoptive family’s high social standing allows him to lead a somewhat normal life, though he is still the object of much public ridicule. Feslen does have a few supporters, however: his brother Duxan, his friend Ka-Wei and the aged martial-arts teacher Master Chai, who has taken the young man under his wing. Master Chai sees Feslen’s untapped potential as a powerful mage, and even suspects he may be “the One” prophesied by the ancients to save the world from impending doom, in the form of a group of evil wizards conspiring to take over the land. When Master Chai is murdered and his daughter Mei Xue kidnapped, Feslen vows to rescue her. First, though, he must corral the vast but untamed magical gifts with which he’s been blessed. Embarking on his mission with a motley crew consisting of his brother, Ka-Wei, a mysterious princess, a thief and another novice mage, Feslen encounters the usual array of monsters and spirits on a journey that becomes a coming-of-age experience–both emotionally and magically–for the young wizard. Kang’s debut certainly won’t win any points for style. But despite a derivative, predictable plot and countless mechanical issues, the author’s marriage of Eastern and Western elements in a fantasy setting is intriguingly rendered, and the empathy and love with which Fester is portrayed will keep readers interested.
A sloppy first novel that shows glimmers of promise.Pub Date: July 7, 2006
ISBN: 0-595-37563-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Imaginative and full of adventure, The Trunk should find an appreciative audience.
Set during the Great Depression, this tale of magic and family tension will delight young readers.
Twelve-year-old Simon and his family are having a difficult time recovering from the death of Simon’s mother. Simon bickers with his older brother and worries about his father, the town pharmacist who has taken to drink, while Simon’s best friend Paul struggles to please his fire-and-brimstone minister father. Beginning as a realistic examination of Depression-era life, the story takes a mystical turn when, in a dream, Simon meets his long-dead uncle “Smokey Joe,” a wandering hobo magician of whom Simon’s father disapproved. Smokey Joe’s old trunk lies forgotten in Simon’s attic. When he opens it, he finds 12 glowing stones so powerful that they attract an evil wizard determined to steal them. With help from the magic stones, Gypsies and Smokey Joe’s old friend, a colorful and clever hobo, Simon fights back. The prose and dialogue flow easily, and the author draws varied, vivid and believable characters. A bit of awkward, unnecessary detail and a few abrupt point-of-view transitions interfere with the suspense, but the entertaining story overcomes these minor flaws.
Imaginative and full of adventure, The Trunk should find an appreciative audience. (Fiction. YA)Pub Date: May 7, 2005
ISBN: 0-595-34261-2
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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