Satisfying fare for readers who prefer their heroes and baddies clearly distinguished.
Unwittingly caught up in a magical family’s deadly quarrel, an apprentice hedgewitch discovers that she has a higher destiny.
Adopted as a foundling by Mother Magdi, a kindly hedgewitch, Brida has spent much of her 12 years struggling to learn herbal spellcraft. Unfortunately, in discovering that she has a truer knack for a more powerful, intuitive form of magic, she draws the cruel attention of Moira, Queen of Crows, whose evil magic has driven away her two sisters and knocked the once-peaceful realm so out of kilter that the weather has turned unpredictable, the population is terrorized, and zombie revenants and other monsters are rising. What can Brida do to fight such evil? What else but harness other magics, including the white, or sacred; the hedgewitches’ nature-based green; the wild magic of the legendary stormhorses—and one other mysterious type, based on wind and long thought to be extinct. Brida never seems to lack for an encounter with a knowledgeable character or overheard conversation to fill in her backstory or conveniently placed allies to bail her out of tight spots; still Adam kits her with a sturdy sense of right and wrong, pits her against several genuinely creepy creatures, and outfits her with simple choices at the climax…plus the power to right all wrongs at the end. Brida presents as White; two secondary characters have copper skin.
Satisfying fare for readers who prefer their heroes and baddies clearly distinguished. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: April 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-298130-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
For animal lovers, defenders of the environment, and fans of female-powered stories.
A girl and a polar bear forge a unique, loving friendship.
April Wood and her widowed scientist father travel to uninhabited Bear Island in the Arctic, where April’s dad has been commissioned to spend six months studying the effects of global warming on the area. Lonely April hopes to get closer to her distracted father, who still grieves his wife’s loss. Instead, incredibly—as dad had said there were none left—she bonds strongly with the island’s lone, injured polar bear, whom she dubs Bear. How April and Bear become best friends, how she cares for him, learns his ways, and masterminds a harrowing rescue effort to save Bear and deliver him home to Svalbard comprises the bulk of this unusual, amiably written tale. The novel incorporates facts, capably raises awareness about the perils of global warming, and makes a strong case for humans’ negative impact on the Arctic. April is an intelligent, independent, resourceful animal lover who staunchly advocates for the environment. Like-minded readers will relate to her and her desire for positive change in the world—and her yearning for loving relationships. The novel’s conclusion is touching and poignant, but some plot elements strain credulity or feel clichéd, and April’s dad is not a fully realized character. Sparse, unexciting, black-and-white illustrations fail to capture the setting’s grandeur. An author’s note includes information and websites.
For animal lovers, defenders of the environment, and fans of female-powered stories. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-304107-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ratcheted-up stakes keep readers invested in this rollicking-good sequel.
In this sequel to Maya and the Rising Dark (2020), Maya and her Papa, the orisha Elegguá, are repairing a gigantic tear in the veil, the astral divider between humanity and the Dark.
This exercise is part of Chicago resident Maya’s continuing lessons as a guardian-in-training. Of course, the Lord of Shadows chooses this moment for a vengeful strike in retaliation for the orishas’ killing of his creations, the darkbringers. Maya notices Papa is taking longer to recover than usual; he confesses that ever since the Lord of Shadows held him captive, his strength and powers haven’t quite returned—but he doesn’t know why. During Elegguá’s visit with wise orisha Obatala in the city of Azur, Obatala tells him that the Lord of Shadows took his soul during the battle in which Maya set Elegguá free. Without his soul, Elegguá will slowly die. In the meantime, some of Maya’s schoolmates come into their own godling powers, which causes them internal confusion and their middle school to erupt into chaos—and could lead to celestial chaos as well. Like its predecessor, this volume presents a multicultural universe that centers West African influences; the worldbuilding is developed here in greater detail, with the action picking up later in the novel. Readers are plunged into a continuation of the story with little recap, making knowledge of the first book a necessity.
Ratcheted-up stakes keep readers invested in this rollicking-good sequel. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-10632-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
© 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.
