The action never lets up, but readers are likely to come away from this trilogy opener more confused than intrigued.
Three orphans pass through a tall hedge and find themselves in a world of advanced (to them) technology and carnivorous sheep.
Rescuing fellow orphan Milly from orange-robed kidnappers, George and Sam discover a temporary gap that has opened in a seemingly impenetrable hedge. Beyond is a land of shark-toothed “Muttons” (and actual sharks in the rivers), talking animals and child-sized humanoids. These last ride floating carts along a road powered with electricity from a Robe-owned generating plant, which is staffed by stolen children. So it’s off to another rescue—aided greatly by a passage through a “Rainbow Cave” where Milly gains super strength and the boys acquire other powers. At the end of the entirely predictable escapade, all return to the orphanage to find that the evil headmaster has fled, leaving them in charge. Signs of slipshod construction range from the Robes’ utterly ineffectual efforts to capture the orphans to the sudden reappearance of a dog that was killed in the first chapter. These only add to the overall sense that the author has just thrown together familiar tropes and random elements in hopes that they’ll stick to each other. Occasional small monochrome drawings add neither character nor detail.
The action never lets up, but readers are likely to come away from this trilogy opener more confused than intrigued. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-956712-24-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Inside Pocket
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
Well-worn character types and plot devices may earn the first juvenile title in Amazon’s new line of imports a little traction with fans of Cornelia Funke’s mysteries. Quintessentially meek orphan Darius Dorian looks upon an assignment to shadow violin-maker Archibald Archinola for two weeks as a welcome chance to escape his orphanage roommate’s bullying. Then Darius discovers that plucking a certain old violin in Archinola’s shop causes any wound or illness to disappear. He steals the violin and is subsequently kidnapped by a doltish con man and his termagant mother, who force his assistance as they set themselves up as miracle healers. Along with a relentlessly two-dimensional bully, Reh trots in a supporting cast led by Darius’ new Asian friend Mey-Mey (“the outer corners of her eyes bend upwards like the corners of a smiling mouth”), sets up a budding romance between the stuffy-but-decent Archinola and a local jeweler and ultimately sends the con artists packing. Despite potentially confusing bits—from repeatedly-mentioned “brown patches” on Mey-Mey’s neck and hand that turn out to be calluses rather than birthmarks to everyone’s sudden and inexplicable loss of interest in the violin’s magic at the end—the tale’s steady predictability will keep less-demanding readers engaged. (Fantasy. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-61109-004-8
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Amazon Crossing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
Sketchy infodumps and plotting leave fancy packaging to carry the load in this elaborately decorated journal.
Impelled by a request delivered by a cat, 13-year-old orphan Abigail compiles information on 15 probably mythical beasts, from mermaids and sea monsters to bunyips, barguests and Bigfoot. Meanwhile she also records incidents in a largely unhappy life—cloistered at home by a tyrannical grandfather and afflicted at her small-town school by bullies and cliques alike. Framed as a diary that fills every square inch including the endpapers, her narrative is presented on swatches of paper interspersed with a mix of dramatic full-page creature portraits, smaller images of old prints and supplementary drawings. These last are in a more informal style, and all are neatly applied over backgrounds pre-brushed with rich colors. Her “reports” run to only a few short comments or quotes (capped at the end by a stale booklist and a more helpful set of websites). Her personal miseries are abruptly resolved by a miraculous pendant and the revelation—quickly laid out at the end and reading more like a draft scenario—that the mythical creatures are real and there’s a struggle going on between those who would hide them and others who want them exposed.
Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-57091-718-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
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