An earnest effort carried by visually impressive graphics.
An eighth grade girl who perceives emotions as flowers seeks to piece together the origin of her ability.
Ever since Marlena Haddad can remember, she’s possessed an ability to see flowers that are visible only to her. They appear on herself and on other people to reveal their true feelings. When Marlena was younger, she tried to tell people about the flowers time and again, but no one believed her, leaving her feeling lonely and overwhelmed. When larger-than-life, nonbinary Ashe Lang transfers to Marlena’s middle school, Marlena soon learns that they not only see flowers on people too, but there’s also a mysterious connection between their pasts. Marlena hopes that getting to know Ashe will help her unlock the secret of why they share this strange, unwanted burden. But “asking Ashe about the flowers made them snap, somehow,” and now Ashe is actively avoiding her. Marlena’s journey to unlock her past, overcome what seems akin to a form of emotional synesthesia, and find healing drives an interesting plot; however, the adamant refusal by both young people’s parents to provide them with mental health support earlier feels deeply troubling. Ata’s mangalike digital illustrations are visually stunning, especially the beautifully detailed florals and the highly saturated, intensely colored dream sequences during which Marlena’s subconscious works to piece together fragments of a forgotten history. Brown-skinned, pink-haired Marlena is cued as being of Middle Eastern descent, while blue-haired Ashe presents white.
An earnest effort carried by visually impressive graphics. (Graphic fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593117149
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic.
A loyal black kitten’s boy is under supernatural attack.
Eleven-month-old Nimbus loves Fletcher, the boy who nursed her back to health following life-threatening injuries. When Fletcher becomes curious about a strange jar and opens it, releasing a terrible goblin, loyal Nim protects Fletcher, taking heavy damage in the process. But Fletcher’s aunt, who’s caring for him over spring break, believes Nim attacked Fletcher and dumps her far from home. Rhett, a stylish rat with star quality, befriends injured Nim and leads her to a witch’s house. While the witch cares for Nim, the witch’s cats (maternal Fern, bookish Rochester, standoffish Bianca, and openly hostile Abraxas) teach Nim important cat skills. She also discovers she has a supernatural ability: In destroying one eye of the nightmare demon in the fight to protect Fletcher, Nim gained its “dream sight.” But she also learns it might come back for Fletcher, who no longer has Nim to protect him, posing a time-sensitive, high-stakes threat. Even though the witch’s home is nice and magic itself seems to be telling her to stay put, Nim wants to find a way back to Fletcher. As a hero, Nimbus is as gritty and determined as she is adorable. Tear-jerker moments explore pet abandonment—readers may want their own pets on hand to hug—all the way through the magical, action-packed finale. Fletcher and the witch read white.
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780062680372
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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