Not genre-shattering but a solid read for genre fans.
Readers will feel as though Harry Potter is meeting Alice in Wonderland in this first of a new series.
Morrigan Crow, a pale, white child, was born cursed. She’s the town scapegoat, blamed for everything bad that happens in Jackalfax. All cursed children are expected to live for 12 years, and as Morrigan is about to turn 11, she has one year until she dies on Eventide, when the old Age gives way to the new. Unfortunately, experts have incorrectly predicted the length of this Age, and Morrigan will die in just a few days. With not even a year’s worth of a future, things look bleak, but then the letter arrives. It’s an invitation to compete for a coveted spot in the prestigious Wundrous Society. On the day she’s to die, Morrigan’s new patron, white, freckled, and very gingery Jupiter North, whisks her away to Nevermoor, where the competition takes place. Successful completion of the four trials of the competition will earn Morrigan lifelong Society membership, giving her what she’s always wanted: to belong. If she fails she must go home, where the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow (the death of all cursed children) will kill her. Several important secondary characters have brown or dark skin, including Jupiter’s nephew, Jack. The geography, politics, and magic of Morrigan’s world are created with care, and Morrigan is a brave free-thinker readers will look forward to meeting again.
Not genre-shattering but a solid read for genre fans. (Fantasy. 8-13)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-50888-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride.
A new virtual-reality theme park goes haywire on a crowd of young victims, er, visitors in Alexander’s latest screamfest.
Having scored one of just 100 coveted preview tickets to a cutting-edge, kids-only venue dubbed ESCAPE, budding amusement park fan and designer Cody Baxter is looking forward to a life-changing experience. What he gets is more of a life-threatening one, as games and rides with names like Triassic Terror and Haunted Hillside not only pit him against a monster and then zombies—or sometimes a monster and zombies—as well as ruthless competing players, but seem tailored to play on individual personal terrors. And, in some never explained way, the VR quickly turns into real battles that inflict real wounds even as the real settings shift with sudden, dizzying unpredictability. Teaming up with loyal new friends Jayson Torn and Inga Andersdottir, the former described as being Japanese and White and the latter as Norwegian, Cody (who seems to default to White) struggles for survival, learning ultimately that ESCAPE was created by an evil genius with an ulterior motive who is convinced that he can teach children a salutary lesson. The plot’s no more logical in its twists and contrivances than the premise, but the author’s knack for spinning out nightmarish situations is definitely on display here as the tale careens toward a properly lurid outcome.
Thrills galore for gamers willing to go along for the ride. (Light horror. 9-12)Pub Date: June 7, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-26047-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
Triumphs, mishaps, and revelations kick this adventure into high gear.
Two young superheroes start a search for their missing mom at a summer camp built next to a volcano. What could go wrong?
Enlisting their friends Beto Moreno and Nara Jenkins—respectively, an aspiring magician and a medal-winning wrestler—to help, fledgling secret super sibs Adeline and Wyatt Flynn enroll at Camp Igneous, conveniently situated at the base of the volcano where their mom might have disappeared four years before. Along with pursuing an investigation, though, the team faces serious competition vying for the titular cup in a series of mentally and physically demanding obstacle courses and other challenges, all while keeping their special powers hidden. The art’s bright colors, overlapping panels, and expressively posed cartoon figures ramp up the pacing and visual energy for a plot that features a series of suspenseful contests capped by encounters with “radioactive goop” and other surprises in the volcano’s crater and hints of a connection between the missing parent and a clandestine group of bad actors called the Quadrant. Stay tuned. Gapstur builds preteen banter, team building, frustrated romance, and even a nearly catastrophic eruption that tests the superkids’ abilities to the utmost into this lively sequel. Wyatt and Adeline are White; the supporting cast includes racial diversity.
Triumphs, mishaps, and revelations kick this adventure into high gear. (Graphic adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 9781534480322
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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