by Eric Kahn Gale ; illustrated by Dave Phillips ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2018
Readers won over by Nosewise’s heart and doggy point of view in The Wizard’s Dog (2017) will welcome him back.
The death of Nivian, beloved Lady of the Lake, prompts a second expedition into the Fae Otherworld for Merlin’s intrepid talking dog and his human “pack.”
Discovering that the only hope of revivifying his kindly friend is a drink from the fabled Grail of Life, Nosewise hesitates not, plunging back into the Winter Lands in search of long-lost Camelot, where the chalice is said to reside. Needless to say, challenges await—from dire wolves and dragons to immensely powerful Queen Mab, mind-altering “sovereign of dreams.” Even scarier, so powerful are the Grail’s contents, it turns out, that the merest drop or sip causes anything mortal to grow and die in a moment. Gale makes excellent use of this last notion, first to provide a spectacularly squishy setting for a climactic scene featuring burgeoning mounds of rotting fruit and fungi, and second for his compulsively gabby protagonist to demonstrate not only true heroism, but uncharacteristic restraint in carrying the magical draft himself for the journey’s suspenseful final leg. In Phillips’ elaborately modeled illustrations Nosewise resembles an overstimulated Akita—white, like Merlin, capable apprentice wizard Morgana, hopelessly feckless young Arthur, and the rest of the two-legged supporting cast.
Readers won over by Nosewise’s heart and doggy point of view in The Wizard’s Dog (2017) will welcome him back. (Fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-553-53740-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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by Alyssa Moon ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2022
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center.
Armed only with her magical sewing needle, foundling mouse Delphine sets out to confront the cruel rat king in this duology closer.
As vicious rat armies pillage the mouse realms in search of her and her pointy, long-hidden treasure, Delphine finds herself waging an inner war that parallels the outer one. According to dusty documents and other reputable sources, the needle’s good powers can be perverted, but she sees no other way except killing to stop evil rat King Midnight. While struggling with a grim determination to go over to the dark side that sets her at odds with her own fundamentally loving nature, Delphine threads her way along with loyal allies past various scrapes—only to come, climactically, face to face with not only her nemesis, but her own past. Moon stitches in flashbacks to fill out the details of a tragic old love triangle that reaches its fruition here and sews her tale up with a return to Château Desjardins just in time for Cinderella’s wedding and a celebratory rodentine ball in the chandelier overhead, and she leaves a fringe of epilogue hinting at further installments to come.
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center. (secret codes) (Animal fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
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by Leslie Connor ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 25, 2020
An almost-orphan and a rescue dog share lots of heart in a winsome coming-of-age story.
After her mother succumbs to heart disease, 13-year-old Lydia goes to live with her mother’s older sister, Aunt Brat, and her wife, Eileen, in their small Connecticut town.
Almost immediately the loving couple adopts a large rescue dog that becomes mostly Lydia’s responsibility. The unfortunate animal isn’t even housebroken, and Lydia’s most decidedly not a dog person, so caring for Guffer is challenging. So is trying to be cordial—but not too friendly—with her 12 eighth grade classmates. Previously home-schooled, Lydia’s not quite ready for the friend thing. Secrets, like who could have been responsible for maiming two baby goats or why Brat is secretly caring for them at a neighbor’s farm, complicate life. Background plotlines (an angry neighbor who hates Guffer, Lydia’s absent father, and the cause of Guffer’s anxieties) all gradually evolve. Similarly, Lydia slowly learns to cope with her grief, sometimes aided by spending time with “the goddesses”—artistic collages of strong women that she and her mother crafted. Gentle, fully fleshed characters (most seemingly white) are lovingly drawn in this long tale of healing, but the pacing is sometimes frustratingly slow. Although she’s clearly intelligent, Lydia’s first-person narrative often seems more like the voice of an adult than a young teen. In spite of these minor flaws, her poignant tale is engaging and uplifting.
An almost-orphan and a rescue dog share lots of heart in a winsome coming-of-age story. (Fiction.10-13)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-279678-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
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