Rowling’s name on the cover will guarantee mad sales, even for an unadventurous spinoff like this.
The Boy Who Lived may be done with Voldemort, but Voldemort’s not done with him.
Blocked out by all three co-authors but written by Thorne, this play script starts up where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) leaves off, then fast-forwards three years. As the plot involves multiple jaunts into the past to right certain wrongs (with all but the last changing the future in disastrous ways), the last Triwizard Tournament and other already-familiar events and locales figure prominently. Also, many favorite characters, even Dumbledore and Snape, trot back onstage to mingle with the now–school-age offspring of Ron, Harry, and Draco. In a fan-fiction–style stretch, the child of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named also plays a part. In the early going at least, the authors faithfully recapture the series’ lively character interplay, and one scene aboard (and atop) the Hogwarts Express particularly echoes some of the original cast’s heady misadventures. And there are measures of banter, tongue-in-cheek dialogue (“HERMIONE: Who are you calling intense?”), and evocative if skimpy stage directions: “[Harry] feels intense pain in his forehead. In his scar. Around him, Dark Magic moves.” But the spellcasting and dramatic crescendos don’t play as well on the page as they might on the stage; the dozens of short, quick-cut scenes chop up the action for readers rather than building dramatic tension. Moreover, the bonding between classmates Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, two self-described “losers,” and the adult Harry’s labored efforts to connect with his alienated middle child distract from a dark-is-rising-again storyline that already leans on unlikely contrivances as it makes its way to a climactic wizardly duel.
Rowling’s name on the cover will guarantee mad sales, even for an unadventurous spinoff like this. (Fantasy. 10 & up)Pub Date: July 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-338-09913-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2016
Salva Dut is 11 years old when war raging in the Sudan separates him from his family. To avoid the conflict, he walks for years with other refugees, seeking sanctuary and scarce food and water. Park simply yet convincingly depicts the chaos of war and an unforgiving landscape as they expose Salva to cruelties both natural and man-made. The lessons Salva remembers from his family keep him from despair during harsh times in refugee camps and enable him, as a young man, to begin a new life in America. As Salva’s story unfolds, readers also learn about another Sudanese youth, Nya, and how these two stories connect contributes to the satisfying conclusion. This story is told as fiction, but it is based on real-life experiences of one of the “Lost Boys” of the Sudan. Salva and Nya’s compelling voices lift their narrative out of the “issue” of the Sudanese War, and only occasionally does the explanation of necessary context intrude in the storytelling. Salva’s heroism and the truth that water is a source of both conflict and reconciliation receive equal, crystal-clear emphasis in this heartfelt account. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-547-25127-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
SEEN & HEARD
In this series debut, Maggie Sinclair tracks down a dognapper and solves a mystery about the noises in the walls of her Brooklyn brownstone apartment building. The 12-year-old heroine, who shares a middle name—Brooklyn—with her twin brother, Finn, is juggling two dogwalking jobs she’s keeping secret from her parents, and somehow she attracts the ire of the dogs’ former walker. Maggie tells her story in the first person—she’s self-possessed and likable, even when her clueless brother invites her ex–best friend, now something of an enemy, to their shared 12th birthday party. Maggie’s attention to details helps her to figure out why dogs seem to be disappearing and why there seem to be mice in the walls of her building, though astute readers will pick up on the solution to at least one mystery before Maggie solves it. There’s a brief nod to Nancy Drew, but the real tensions in this contemporary preteen story are more about friendship and boy crushes than skullduggery. Still, the setting is appealing, and Maggie is a smart and competent heroine whose personal life is just as interesting as—if not more than—her detective work. (Mystery. 10-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 967-1-59990-525-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
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