Latest and 113th recruit, at a school for wizards, Henry is given a new name (Thornmallow: prickly outside but "squishy within") and is soon making friends and discovering that—despite a becoming humility and lamentable tone-deafness—he has an unusual, as yet uncharted, power to make magical things occur. This is fortunate, because the school is under threat from a disaffected wizard who used to be the 14th "magister" (teacher) and his monster, a patchwork dragon constructed from negative traits and entire personalities. Piecing together information from the library with his other scant knowledge, Thornmallow manages to stop the beast just before it adds him to its grisly bulk, then rescue the rest of the already-devoured school. Yolen skillfully blends the traditions of fantasy and school story, giving her theme a special twist: Thornmallow is not the expected powerful enchanter but an "enhancer" who makes his contribution as a catalyst for others' magic and whose heroism consists of trying hard and not giving up. Briskly told, with plenty of engaging humor and wordplay—plus the unique, truly gruesome beast (splendidly colorful on Trina Schart Hyman's jacket, but not nearly so scary as in the text). Good, imaginative fun. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-15-298132-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1991
A truly #BlackGirlMagic, cloudy-day, curl-up kind of book.
Maya knows her father’s stories aren’t real—are they?
Maya, a comic-book–loving, anemic 12-year-old Black girl, is suffering through situational math when she experiences a sudden, time-stopped moment when “the color bled from the world like someone was sucking it away through a straw.” That is not the only strange incident: Maya has an all-too-real dream of a man with skin “the color of the moon” and “pale violet eyes” who has the same color-sucking ability; her structural engineer papa literally disappears in front of her; and when she and her friends Frankie and Eli find themselves fighting shape-shifting darkbringers, Frankie discovers her own light-shooting skills. What Maya, Frankie, Eli, and readers find out from Maya’s mother is that Papa’s real identity is Elegguá, the most powerful of the West African orishas, guardian of the veil between this world and those of the darkbringers and other forces. Not only that, but Frankie’s newly found gift came from her late mother, who is also an orisha, and Eli is part orisha, too. The astonishing series of subsequent revelations leaves readers agog, eager to know how Maya and her pals will use their powers to heal the veil and save their mostly Black and brown neighborhood. In her author’s note, Barron describes how this book has risen from her explorations of the traditions of her West African ancestors.
A truly #BlackGirlMagic, cloudy-day, curl-up kind of book. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-328-63518-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
With homespun charm, Forester focuses on the extraordinary Piper McCloud, daughter of an elderly couple who worry that revealing her gift of flight will put her in danger—with good reason. After Piper’s first attempt to play baseball at a Fourth of July celebration results in a spectacular exhibit of her unique talent, Letitia Hellion’s helicopter and black sedans show up to whisk her to a special school. At I.N.S.A.N.E., the Institute of Normalcy, Stability And Non Exceptionality, Letitia introduces Piper to classmates with equally unusual talents. The facility harbors many secrets, some unpleasant, many horrifying and none more unusual than genius Conrad Harrington III, rejected son of a powerful politician. Plucky Piper faces nearly insurmountable odds and must keep her innate sense of right and wrong focused through her trials. This fantasy has an air of reality, maintained by the aw-shucks flavor of the dialogue and its determined, good-as-gold heroine. Hints of a sequel appear after the tidy ending of this X-Men-like superhero take on the world. (Fantasy. 9-12)
Pub Date: July 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-37462-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
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