All hail the paw-some Dog Knight!
A dog-loving tween drummer discovers a magical canine connection.
After coming out to their supportive mom and (now ex–) best friend, Dallas, nonbinary Frankie Bryant faces bullying from Dallas and others that leaves them feeling unsure of where they fit. After two run-ins with a friendly golden retriever who always seems to be in the right place at the right time, Frankie hits their head and is transported to the Omniversal Doghouse, the palace of “the Pawtheon, the secret legion of dog heroes.” The Pawtheon lend Frankie a helmet that allows them to understand dog-kind. They learn of a magical alliance between humans and dogs: Humans care for dogs, and dogs protect humans from chaos-sowing, batlike gremlins. The Pawtheon have recruited Frankie as the next potential Dog Knight, connector and protector of the two realms. The catch? They have to successfully complete six trials, one for each of the dog virtues, back in the human realm while living with their dog-allergic mom. Readers will root for Frankie, whose desire to find their place will resonate. The rebuilding of Frankie and Dallas’ fractured friendship is careful and authentic. Sparse backgrounds leave space for expressive human and dog faces to shine. Frankie and their mom read Black; background characters are racially diverse. The gremlins use ungrammatical English, unfortunately making an implicit connection between grammar and morality, but quality queer representation and a strong narrative voice make this sweet, funny series opener a winner.
All hail the paw-some Dog Knight! (content warning) (Graphic fiction. 8-14)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9781250756725
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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
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