Exuberant, action-packed, and warmhearted.
A 13-year-old is sent to a school with ties to the Tudors on a mysterious English island populated by endangered species in this U.S. debut by former Spice Girl Halliwell-Horner.
Rosie Frost’s world is upended when her mum dies, leaving her an orphan. Per her mother’s last wishes, the pale, ginger-haired girl is whisked away to Bloodstone Island, a “conservation hotspot” and the site of Heverbridge, a school founded by Queen Elizabeth I, which now has an ethnically diverse population of pupils and teachers. New scholarship student Rosie immediately seems to get on the bad side of the deputy head, Mr. Hemlock. She soon comes to believe he has plans that will harm the island’s flora and fauna. Hoping to make her voice heard and discover more about who she is, Rosie enters the Falcon Queen Games, a competition aligned with the school’s values of courage, power, and freedom. She faces danger and bullying, but along the way she makes friends and allies who help her. This contemporary, girl-power story has light paranormal and fantastical elements and is fueled by a captivating mystery and adventure. The good-versus-evil narrative is clear cut and straightforward. Many of the character types and plot elements present here are popular staples of the genre, adding to the lively story’s wide appeal. It also features quick pacing, fun and engaging worldbuilding, and a lead character who is easy to root for.
Exuberant, action-packed, and warmhearted. (map, glossary, family tree) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780593623343
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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