An engaging, action-packed adventure for technophiles and aspiring detectives.
In this debut middle-grade SF novel, some drone-loving teenagers have no idea how pivotal they are to a brighter future.
Thirteen-year-old Mikaela Kadono is new to the town of Good Harbor, having just moved into an eerie historical house across the street from her soon-to-be-friend, George Mendoza. He invites Mikaela to join the Drone Legends club at school, which consists of George, tech whiz Kendall Fontenot, and science teacher Jaswinder Singh. As they bond over their shared passion, school villain and former drone club member Malcolm Avar observes their every move. He even attempts to electrocute Kendall when the club members go to a park to practice piloting their crafts, but his plan goes awry when a mysterious high-tech drone interferes and saves her life. Unbeknownst to the teens, this drone has arrived from the future to preserve a valuable timeline that is in danger of being tampered with. In fact, the novel’s frame narrative is set in this nebulous future. As Mikaela and her friends hone their drone skills, they also begin to unravel a decades-old puzzle left by Good Harbor’s former residents while Malcolm watches, hoping to exact revenge on the Drone Legends and his cold, unsupportive family. The situation escalates rapidly until all of the teens are involved in mortal peril, caught in a temporal crossroads where only quick thinking can save them. The narrative’s weakest element is Malcolm’s cartoonlike villain persona, which has unparalleled and unrealistic access to school surveillance technology and a single-minded hatred that seems disproportionate to how far he’s willing to go. Zortman relies on overexplaining Malcolm’s nature rather than letting it speak for itself: “Besides being a technical genius, Malcolm was very good at manipulating people.” But when the story follows the Drone Legends themselves, it coheres excellently as it explores themes of self-identity, teamwork, and social responsibility. George embarks on a captivating journey to embrace his Mexican heritage while Mikaela finds her place in her new town.
An engaging, action-packed adventure for technophiles and aspiring detectives.Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9798989672103
Page Count: -
Publisher: Good Harbor Entertainment
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
