A beautiful story of discovering science and self.
In a magical world, 12-year-old Hex Allen is used to being Undeveloped, or someone without magic.
Her family accepts and supports her, especially her 6-year-old brother, Spanner, who loves the stories she tells about No Magic Girl that include descriptions of her clever inventions. But Hex knows that she can never really be independent without magic—and her only chance to gain magical abilities is to visit the Wishing Wyrm, a volcano-dwelling dragon who lives in the middle of the Great Barren, a desert enveloped in a perpetual sandstorm. Approximately once a century, the storm ceases, offering people the chance to receive a single wish from the dragon. Fortunately, the timing is right, and the sandstorm clears. On her journey to find the Wishing Wyrm, Hex joins Fuse and Cam, two fellow Undevelopeds who teach her about clank, their name for nonmagical laws of nature—in other words, science. The Clanksmiths show her that there’s a lot more to the world than casting spells, and Hex wonders if wishing to be magical is really the right choice. Florentine’s STEM-positive debut is a delight. The story drives home the fact that science is all around us, and we only have to use some imagination, trial, and error to apply it to reality. Hex and Cam read as Black; Fuse has olive skin and turquoise hair.
A beautiful story of discovering science and self. (map, Hex’s sketchbook with science project instructions) (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-943147-77-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: The Innovation Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
An enchanting, magical read.
Eva Evergreen summons her courage and her magic to stop the Culling once and for all in this exciting sequel.
Eva has finally achieved her dream of becoming a Novice Witch by helping protect her assigned town, Auteri, from the Culling, a mysterious, disastrous, magical storm. On top of that, her mother has been accused of using rogue magic, passing it on to Eva, and bringing about the Culling. When the parents of two of Eva’s friends from Auteri go missing, she attempts to locate them, in the process uncovering who might actually be behind the Culling—something she reveals to the queen and Inner Council. In retaliation, the suspect casts a curse, which costs Eva’s mother her magic, and then disappears. With the culprit on the loose and the Culling worsening, Eva is assigned a critical mission. With the help of her friends and her red-gold flamefox, black-haired Eva must find the courage to find the truth behind the Culling before it destroys the whole realm. With curses, rogue magic, and secrets, this sequel is a little darker than its predecessor but still as captivating and charming as before. Abe’s descriptive writing takes readers on a compelling, suspenseful adventure in a spectacular magical realm full of “impossible possibilities.” Japanese names and manga-style spot art add to the atmosphere.
An enchanting, magical read. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-49394-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers new to Gooseberry Park will hope they don’t have to wait another 20 years for the next book
Twenty years after the publication of Gooseberry Park (1995), Rylant returns with a sequel.
In the previous outing, the residents of Gooseberry Park coped with an ice storm; now, a drought threatens Stumpy the squirrel and her family, along with all the other animals. This spurs house pets chocolate Lab Kona and hermit crab Gwendolyn to devise the titular master plan to help their friends through the ecological disaster. Herman the crow—so smart that the rest of the crows have given up the annual chess match because they got sick of losing to him—works out a flowchart that involves a cat, a possum, a raccoon, 200 owls, and 20 packs of chewing gum. Murray the bat’s motivational-speaker brother puts his well-developed jaw muscles to work on the gum; Kona’s chocolate-Lab sincerity wins the unprecedented cooperation of 200 owls. Rylant writes with her customary restrained humor, creating with apparently no effort a full cast of three-dimensional furred and feathered characters. The story comes with lessons ranging from the overuse of fossil fuels to the peculiar magic of friendship, all applied with a gentle hand and a spirit of generous trust in the abilities of her readers to understand them. Her frequent collaborator Howard supplies lumpily humorous grayscale illustrations that augment the character development and give readers’ eyes places to rest.
Readers new to Gooseberry Park will hope they don’t have to wait another 20 years for the next book . (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-0449-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
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