Sharp writing and realistic characters triumph over a timeworn theme.
In this first novel by a father-and-daughter team, a Native American girl must accept her special gifts in order to fight an evil that threatens the human race.
One of the paradoxes of the teenage years is that just when kids are encouraged to be individuals, all they really want to do is fit in with the rest of the crowd. That’s the problem faced by Native American teenager Juliet Wildfire Stone. She gets little help from her largely absent, workaholic single mother, or her mystical grandfather, Sicheii, who communicates better with the wind than with his granddaughter. Things become infinitely more complicated when a series of murders appear to lead back to Sicheii. He soon tells her that she’s a being called the Chosen, who must save the human race from a terrible fate. As a result, a reluctant Juliet must jettison the idea of normalcy and accept her destiny before dark forces can triumph. This is an enjoyable read for all ages that goes by as fast as the authors can unspool it, without needless subplot detours. The teenage characters’ realism stands out, quite possibly because of the younger Altabef’s input. Juliet and her friends talk as real-life teens would (“Want to cut today? It’s too sunny to go to school”), and readers never get the sense that an author is forcing the teens’ words and actions. The character of Sicheii, meanwhile, often references wind and sky spirits and talks in riddles, but his mysticism is critical to the story, so readers will forgive his oddities. The story is also shot through with wry humor; for example, Juliet got her middle name because a wildfire was in the news when she was born, and she’s grateful that it wasn’t a garbage strike, instead. Although the book does rely upon the hoary plot device of a “chosen one,” the writing’s freshness overcomes the clichéd plot. It shouldn’t stop readers from trimming their sails and letting the story blow them away.
Sharp writing and realistic characters triumph over a timeworn theme.Pub Date: March 23, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Evolved Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 20, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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