A rollicking story of a four-legged hero and his pals defying the odds.
In Koehn’s middle-grade adventure, a coyote-wolf pup is destined to save a land of anthropomorphized forest animals.
Flocking birds are the first sign that something’s wrong in the land of Toaz; sparrows gather in Yotetown, where the law forbids them to live or even fly close to the ground. Clint Cane, a coyote whose job is guarding a river border, leads a scouting team to see what’s going on. He doesn’t allow his 13-moons-old son Cody, whose mom is a wolf and who yearns for adventure, to join him. Cody soon learns that danger is on its way to Yotetown—Cougar King Rugar has already spearheaded an assault on a neighboring city. He’s also out for revenge against the Canes, blaming Cody’s grandfather for his own father’s death. Who will stop Rugar from destroying all of Toaz? According to a prophecy, Cody will. He assembles quite a few allies, including Bears and a Raccoon, to make a stand against the Cougars, Vultures, and an evil Condor witch who’s stolen a precious stone Cody must recover. Sprightly animals populate Koehn’s novel: Cody travels to Rugar’s Tower with Ren, a bird who complains endlessly, has a run-in with Mr. Tori, the mild-mannered Tortoise, and passes through Skunksdale, the home of “wealthy, fashionable Skunks.” It’s a sheer delight to witness Cody build up his courage and make new friends. The journey across Toaz to challenge the Cougar King keeps the narrative moving to a steady, consistently engaging beat. Adding to the fun is the characters’ tendency to periodically break into song—the text includes lyrics and a link to a playlist for an original soundtrack. The author contributed the novel’s plentiful illustrations—black-and-white depictions of Cody racing, howling, or confronting twice-his-size Rugar.
A rollicking story of a four-legged hero and his pals defying the odds.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9798373862462
Page Count: 186
Publisher: XlibrisUS
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
After Castro’s takeover, nine-year-old Julian and his older brothers are sent away by their fearful parents via “Operation Pedro Pan” to a camp in Miami for Cuban-exile children. Here he discovers that a ruthless bully has essentially been put in charge. Julian is quicker-witted than his brothers or anyone else ever imagined, though, and with his inherent smarts, developing maturity and the help of child and adult friends, he learns to navigate the dynamics of the camp and surroundings and grows from the former baby of the family to independence and self-confidence. A daring rescue mission at the end of the novel will have readers rooting for Julian even as it opens his family’s eyes to his courage and resourcefulness. This autobiographical novel is a well-meaning, fast-paced and often exciting read, though at times the writing feels choppy. It will introduce readers to a not-so-distant period whose echoes are still felt today and inspire admiration for young people who had to be brave despite frightening and lonely odds. (Historical fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-168-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
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