Good characterization, but the adventures could have used more excitement.
On a trip to Scotland, an American teenager and his dog fight an otherworldly battle between good and evil in this YA adventure.
Paul Wonder, 13, lives in Venice Beach, California, with his father, Noah, his aunt Rue, and his grandmother Bernice; his mother, Rebekah, died of cancer when he was 7. Magic, Paul’s golden retriever, became part of the family after mysteriously showing up in Paul’s bed three years ago. Only Paul has seen the dog’s eyes turn neon yellow and its fur turn sparkling gold at certain times, as when Magic saved him from a car accident. The family is deeply involved in Bible study, prayer, and church, but Paul shares a taste for adventure with Rue, who’s a police detective. When Noah, a filmmaker, announces plans to bring Paul, Rue, Bernice, and Magic to Scotland for his next job, Paul is thrilled: maybe he’ll see the Loch Ness monster! He has a great time sightseeing and enjoying Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival as well as making new, teenage friends, although one kid—ominously named Judas—scares him. Judas has a goth style and a monstrous, black dog named Goliath who seems as demonic as Magic seems angelic. When the crew gets to Loch Ness, Magic shows just how protective—and magical—a dog can be. In this debut novel, Gene captures Paul’s young-teenage point of view well, including his excitement about traveling, his love for his dog, his budding interest in girls, and how he misses his mother. Some details are unnecessarily repeated, but the book does give solid information about Scotland generally, Edinburgh specifically, and local tourist activities. The book’s title may lead readers to expect a Loch Ness–focused story, but most of the action takes place in Edinburgh; the characters don’t even reach the lake until the final five chapters. Also, although a few scary moments enliven things along the way, the book’s final confrontation is badly underdescribed: Magic’s battle is “amazing”—and then, in the next sentence, it’s over.
Good characterization, but the adventures could have used more excitement.Pub Date: May 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4908-7763-1
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2017
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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