A promising premise let down by an overstuffed plot.
A poor, lonely girl’s adventure into unknown territory.
Stub, an orphan, has lived and worked at a subpar tavern for all of her 12 years. She sleeps in an unused chicken shed next to the magically enhanced, oversized animals. With no apparent path out of her wretched circumstances and carrying some trauma from mistreatment, Stub has a rather unhappy life. One of the only things she has to look forward to is the country’s centennial Peace Day celebration, an annual remembrance of a brokered truce with foreign armies. Out of nowhere, a shrunken man appears, a wizard no less, who is now magically attached to Stub—by accident, of course. The wizard serves at the palace of the current Peace Queen, who’s Stub’s age, and he shares with her some troubling information that threatens the queendom and the peace. Stub, her pet chicken, the pocket-sized wizard, and a young, eager tavern cook set off across the queendom to stop the mysterious plot. The characters’ episodic journey and the slow-reveal plot never quite click. Overall, the tale explores some good ideas, but the author tries to pack so much in that the execution suffers. The narrative makes a point of emphasizing this world’s heavily matriarchal society. Physical descriptions are limited, but most people in Maradon are said to have light brown skin.
A promising premise let down by an overstuffed plot. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1434-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Contagiously goofy and fun.
Area 51 gets its first new resident in 5 years—and a new mystery.
When her grandma moves into a kid-free retirement home, 12-year-old orphan Priya “Sky” Patel-Baum and Spike, her pet hedgehog, relocate to Area 51 to live with Sky’s eccentric Uncle Anish. At 51, humans and Break Throughs (government-speak for aliens) live together off-grid in harmony. Unfortunately, several Zdstrammars (one of many Break Through species) mysteriously disappear, disrupting the base’s harmony and contributing to feelings of suspicion. Despite being deputy head of the Federal Bureau of Alien Investigations, Uncle Anish becomes a prime suspect. Can Sky and Elvis, her alien classmate, prove Uncle Anish’s innocence and find the missing Zdstrammars before it’s too late? YA author Buxbaum’s middle-grade debut is a rip-roaring series opener complete with over-the-top characters and jokes galore. Naidu’s black-and-white cartoon illustrations extend the comedy with ongoing commentary that smartly interacts with the prose. The cast of Break Through species—like Audiotooters, Galzorian, and Sanitizoria—have hilariously creative on-the-nose names with illustrations to match. Sky is coded biracial, with a White dad and Indian mom. Aliens appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors; Elvis shape-shifts but looks like a brown-skinned boy to Sky. Though the main mystery is neatly wrapped up, the cliffhanger ending promises more laughs.
Contagiously goofy and fun. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-42946-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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