Thesman (Sea So Far, 2001, etc.) proposes an inglorious take on human origins in this tale of a teenager caught between an array of magical creatures protecting one of the last “Darkwoods” on earth, and Hunters bent on destroying it. Charlotte begins to suspect that all is not as it seems at the Puget Sound guesthouse where she’s summering when she notices that her adopted little brother’s shadow has disappeared. After several other odd incidents, she concludes that something in the nearby woods threatens Will—and that the owners of the guesthouse, along with a pair of unpleasant guests, know more than they’re telling about it. As it turns out, the unicorns, dragon, shape-shifting Fox Fairy, and other beings tied to the Darkwood have identified Will as an orphaned child of the Fair Folk, a potentially powerful ally against humans, dubbed “Mudwalkers,” who were created long ago as playthings by a malicious Chimera, but then escaped to conduct a campaign of destruction against the world’s forests. When the possibility that Will might join the residents of the Darkwood spurs a gathering of particularly evil Mudwalkers to set a forest fire, Charlotte joins the successful defense, then goes on in subsequent years to become a renowned naturalist. What with rather nebulous bad guys and several unexplained circumstances, the story’s internal logic isn’t any too solid, and the ecological message, along with humankind’s low origins, is hammered home. But Charlotte narrates in a distinctly personal voice, and the author lightens the tone by casting interestingly rude characters on both sides of the conflict. Ably done, but without the spark of The Other Ones (1999). (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: May 20, 2002
ISBN: 0-670-03561-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
A misfit seventh grader’s half-serious conviction that he’s an alien proves well-founded in this wild, slime-and-monster-filled romp from Mackel (A Season Of Comebacks, 1997). The tales Mike spins to a rapt audience of younger neighbors, about hideous reptilian invaders called Jongs, come home to roost when, after a horribly embarrassing computer prank, he constructs a powerful transmitter out of household electronics and beams a plea for help into the night sky. Suddenly, he’s besieged by nonhuman “rescuers,” from a sluglike Bom, eager to open a raft of personal injury suits on Mike’s behalf, to Barnabus, an entity-rights worker from (where else?) Sirius. Thinking better of his original impulse, Mike fends them off until, to his dismay and elation, an actual Jong swoops down, intending to add him and any other convenient beings to its personal zoo. Mike contrives to defeat the Jong and release its menagerie, setting the stage for an unforgettable Halloween parade through town. In the end, despite proof that his stories are actually suppressed memories, Mike elects to stay on Earth with family and friends. Fans of such escapades as Gene De Weese’s Black Suits from Outer Space (1989), Jonathan Etra and Stephanie Spinner’s Aliens For Breakfast (1988) and Mel Gilden’s Pumpkins of Time (1994) will welcome this with open arms, tentacles, and pseudopods. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-380-97681-1
Page Count: 146
Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
Swinburne sets out to teach young children about how shadows are created, describing night as a shadow on the earth, and giving children tangible reasons for why shadows vary in size, shape, and location. The latter half of the book invites readers to guess the origins of the shadows in vivid full-color photographs; subsequent pages provide the answers to the mysteries. A foreword contains information regarding the scientific reasons for shadows, which can be explained to small children, but it is the array of photographs that truly invites youngsters to take a closer look and analyze the world around them with an eye for the details. (Picture book/nonfiction. 3-5).
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-56397-724-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
© Copyright 2025 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.
