Cat and magic fans, unite!
The cats are not what they seem.
Duncan’s feline mother always knew he was different. She had seen his newborn kitten eyes flash gold, just as hers did when she had visions of the future. He seems to have inherited the ancient magic of Sagira, a cat that possessed powers feared by both cats and humans. Now, cats conceal their intelligence and ability to talk from humans, although it was not always this way. In Sagira’s time and place, 900 B.C. in Egypt, cats and humans had respected one another and communicated openly. The mutual respect lasted only so long after humans discovered Sagira and her abilities to burst into flames, bend minds, see the future, become invisible and move at incredible speed. Obsessed with Sagira, the Egyptians began to worship her and all cats; but she denied their affections and kept to herself. The worship of cats soon turned to hate and fear, which led to massive feline slaughter by humans. Cats slowly learned to live peacefully with humans by pretending to act as house pets. Before Sagira died, she left behind a book of prophecies as well as five kittens, each possessing one of Sagira’s powers—that is, until Duncan. After being adopted by a young human couple and forced to live with a hostile, older cat named Whiski, Duncan discovers that he has inherited all five of Sagira’s powers. In an effort to learn how to control his powers and keep his new family safe, Duncan and Whiski set out to find help. But will the mysterious feral cats that protect Sagira’s book help Duncan find the answers before the hateful purebreds kill him? The story is incredibly imaginative and quirky. Employing real-life references, Holley gives the illusion that this story isn’t as outlandish as it seems. She has inspired explanations for why black cats are known as bad luck, and she playfully hints at the hidden intelligence of house cats. The pop-culture references—kittens watch Star Trek—are both comical and bizarre. She even manages to include a cult of nasty purebred cats that act as a hate group. Unabashedly goofy, the well-written, action-packed story doesn’t end here; it’s only the first of a three part series.
Cat and magic fans, unite!Pub Date: May 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-1477475232
Page Count: 280
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance.
A boy with wings learns to be himself and inspires others like him to soar, too.
Norman, a “perfectly normal” boy, never dreamed he might grow wings. Afraid of what his parents might say, he hides his new wings under a big, stuffy coat. Although the coat hides his wings from the world, Norman no longer finds joy in bathtime, playing at the park, swimming, or birthday parties. With the gentle encouragement of his parents, who see his sadness, Norman finds the courage to come out of hiding and soar. Percival (The Magic Looking Glass, 2017, etc.) depicts Norman with light skin and dark hair. Black-and-white illustrations show his father with dark skin and hair and his mother as white. The contrast of black-and-white illustrations with splashes of bright color complements the story’s theme. While Norman tries to be “normal,” the world and people around him look black and gray, but his coat stands out in yellow. Birds pop from the page in pink, green, and blue, emphasizing the joy and beauty of flying free. The final spread, full of bright color and multiracial children in flight, sets the mood for Norman’s realization on the last page that there is “no such thing as perfectly normal,” but he can be “perfectly Norman.”
A heartwarming story about facing fears and acceptance. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-785-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Not for the faint-hearted—who are mostly adults anyway—but for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister:...
A magnificently creepy fantasy pits a bright, bored little girl against a soul-eating horror that inhabits the reality right next door.
Coraline’s parents are loving, but really too busy to play with her, so she amuses herself by exploring her family’s new flat. A drawing-room door that opens onto a brick wall becomes a natural magnet for the curious little girl, and she is only half-surprised when, one day, the door opens onto a hallway and Coraline finds herself in a skewed mirror of her own flat, complete with skewed, button-eyed versions of her own parents. This is Gaiman’s (American Gods, 2001, etc.) first novel for children, and the author of the Sandman graphic novels here shows a sure sense of a child’s fears—and the child’s ability to overcome those fears. “I will be brave,” thinks Coraline. “No, I am brave.” When Coraline realizes that her other mother has not only stolen her real parents but has also stolen the souls of other children before her, she resolves to free her parents and to find the lost souls by matching her wits against the not-mother. The narrative hews closely to a child’s-eye perspective: Coraline never really tries to understand what has happened or to fathom the nature of the other mother; she simply focuses on getting her parents back and thwarting the other mother for good. Her ability to accept and cope with the surreality of the other flat springs from the child’s ability to accept, without question, the eccentricity and arbitrariness of her own—and every child’s own—reality. As Coraline’s quest picks up its pace, the parallel world she finds herself trapped in grows ever more monstrous, generating some deliciously eerie descriptive writing.
Not for the faint-hearted—who are mostly adults anyway—but for stouthearted kids who love a brush with the sinister: Coraline is spot on. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-380-97778-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2002
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