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BALTHAZAR FABULOSO IN THE LAIR OF THE HUMBUGS

Sleight of hand behind this bag of tricks is all too slight, no magic here.

When his stage-magician family vanishes for real, can Balthazar find them?

The Fabulosos may perform on stage, but they also have real magic…all except Balthazar; he’s normal, and he wishes his family were. Hoping he will blossom late, his parents are positive and encouraging, but they are wrapped up in the family business. At a Christmas performance at the dinner theater where they work, they are heckled by rival magic family the Fistulas—and they disappear. A social worker leaves Balthazar with his wayward uncle, Ignatius. When the Fistulas disappear too (after taking over the dinner theater), their magic-using daughter, Pagan, joins the hunt for the missing magicians. Evidence mounts that someone is using anti-magical Gloaming, but will the International Brotherhood of Real Stage Magic help, or is the trio on their own? With references above the ken of the target audience and a few plot missteps, scriptwriter Brindle’s debut fizzles like damp magician’s powder. Balthazar is a passable Everykid, but the world around him never jells, nor is the tension tense. Pagan’s occasional between-chapter “Log Entries” are unfunny and unnecessary. Judging by Walker’s illustrations, the Fabulosos and Fistulas are white.

Sleight of hand behind this bag of tricks is all too slight, no magic here. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Pub Date: May 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-8234-3577-7

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016

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LEGACY AND THE DOUBLE

From the Legacy series , Vol. 2

A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.

A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.

In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.

A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Granity Studios

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021

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ESCAPE

Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride.

A new virtual-reality theme park goes haywire on a crowd of young ­­victims, er, visitors in Alexander’s latest screamfest.

Having scored one of just 100 coveted preview tickets to a cutting-edge, kids-only venue dubbed ESCAPE, budding amusement park fan and designer Cody Baxter is looking forward to a life-changing experience. What he gets is more of a life-threatening one, as games and rides with names like Triassic Terror and Haunted Hillside not only pit him against a monster and then zombies—or sometimes a monster and zombies—as well as ruthless competing players, but seem tailored to play on individual personal terrors. And, in some never explained way, the VR quickly turns into real battles that inflict real wounds even as the real settings shift with sudden, dizzying unpredictability. Teaming up with loyal new friends Jayson Torn and Inga Andersdottir, the former described as being Japanese and White and the latter as Norwegian, Cody (who seems to default to White) struggles for survival, learning ultimately that ESCAPE was created by an evil genius with an ulterior motive who is convinced that he can teach children a salutary lesson. The plot’s no more logical in its twists and contrivances than the premise, but the author’s knack for spinning out nightmarish situations is definitely on display here as the tale careens toward a properly lurid outcome.

Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride. (Light horror. 9-12)

Pub Date: June 7, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-338-26047-2

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022

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