A compelling if derivative supernatural teen romance.
In a young-adult paranormal romance, four teenagers develop strange powers—and the reason why is more incredible than they could possibly imagine.
This debut from sisters Gerry and Hall begins with Maggie Brooks and Lily Ivers, best friends since they were babies. Lily is popular and outgoing, but a high school romance gone seriously awry has turned Maggie into a cynical loner. The arrival of Kyle Spencer changes things: When Kyle and Maggie first lock eyes, they feel their worlds turn upside down. For Maggie, it isn’t a pleasant feeling. On top of her conflicted feelings for Kyle, she starts to read and even manipulate people’s thoughts. Kyle, for his part, develops superhuman strength. Lily at first resigns herself to being a good sidekick, mediating between her two hot-headed friends and acting happy with her normal-as-apple-pie boyfriend, Mark Weston. But when a band of werewolves attacks the girls one winter night, Lily’s powers of magical healing emerge. Then Carter Drake shows up in town. He’s a ne’er-do-well East Coast preppie who, after having been thrown out by his family, feels drawn to Idaho Falls, of all places. He quickly realizes what drew him there—Lily—but their romance is complicated by Kyle’s irrational hatred. Fighting with Kyle, however, brings out Carter’s secret power: an armor of light. Up to this point, the book is a standard if well-plotted story of high school angst with supernatural trappings; yet the final quarter veers in another direction altogether, as the foursome are beset by enemies from another world who reveal that the kids are each reborn participants in an as-yet-unclear dynastic feud. Twilight, it seems, has suddenly gone Game of Thrones. There are deaths, rebirths and betrayal. By the end, three of our heroes are on the road with Mark, fleeing an apocalyptic high school explosion the likes of which have not been seen since the 1999 Sunnydale High graduation in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The authors’ depiction of joy and cruelty in high school rings true, and the hints of a darker reality will leave readers with the best kind of cliff-hanger.
A compelling if derivative supernatural teen romance.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615589497
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Scribes of Shardwell, LLC
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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