A cheerworthy adventure rich in frights and surprises.
A new arrival to isolated Seven Falls discovers plenty of substance to creepy legends about the dark woods around town.
Readers who are convinced that grown-ups are clueless and never listen to kids will find strong confirmation in Howard’s middle-grade debut. Multiple monsters are the main event, but a sparkling cast of seemingly ordinary young people who prevail thanks to unexpected depths of courage and resourcefulness comes in a close second. Having been kicked out of boarding schools all over Europe mostly (he contends) through no fault of his own, 12-year-old Dig Romer has been sent to live with his aunt, uncle, and nerdy overachiever cousin, Elliot. He soon encounters a menacing PE teacher, a bigfootlike Boojum in the woods, and increasingly strong evidence that Bram Stoker’s Dracula wasn’t fiction at all—except for the ending. A rash of missing persons cases that leave the police and other adults dismissively waving their hands impels Dig to lead his reluctant but game cousin and other even more unlikely allies on a rescue attempt through uncharted woods and stygian caves to a terrifying climax. Being clever, insatiably curious, and totally fearless (aside from a tendency to melt down almost comically in the presence of bats), Dig makes a winning protagonist, and his supporting crew is equally memorable. Most central characters are cued white.
A cheerworthy adventure rich in frights and surprises. (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: July 21, 2026
ISBN: 9781250910226
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
PERSPECTIVES
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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