An entertaining moral tale for young readers about determining one’s character.
In Hebert’s middle-grade book, a young dragon must save his home without allowing himself to become a weapon.
Weepy is a dragon, but he doesn’t have a sense of who he truly is. Stories paint him as the stuff of legend because he once saved his castle by dousing flames with his tears. Only he and his best friend, Elin, know just how terrified he was the entire time, and how much the stories feel like “something that had happened to someone else”; they’re the only ones who know just how little faith Weepy has in his ability to save his home once again. When enemies lay siege to the castle, the king and his people expect Weepy to rise to the occasion. The invading army knows this, too, and have devised a strategy to test his strength and provoke his anger. The castle’s commander is a voice of reason amid the panic of war and tells Weepy that “there’s a difference between standing your ground and trying to win,” and that “strength isn’t about doing everything you can…it’s about knowing what not to do.” Weepy does his best to prove that he can protect those he cares about without resorting to violence; he does this, in part, by convincing the king that sending him out too soon would reveal the limits of Weepy’s strength to the enemy. His fortitude is tested when scouts invade the castle and Elin rushes to act, plunging herself into the heart of the danger. Just a glimpse of her terrified face reminds Weepy of the importance of self-control. This lesson convinces him that he needn’t kill in order to protect, and it prepares him for the final battle he must face.
Hebert’s story is one of firm morals and rapid action. Weepy is, from the start, a compelling protagonist whose fears of the encroaching war are immediately provocative: War “was marching toward them, real and solid and terrifying.” The commander’s frequent words of wisdom are also insightful—particularly his description of war being “just noise and regret.” Although the tale’s conclusion is predictable, it affords readers a satisfying narrative arc, and Weepy’s concern about how his tale will be remembered offers some intriguing metatextual commentary. Where Hebert’s writing risks losing younger readers is in its more extreme moments of repetition. Although his message about bullies is undoubtedly intended to be inspiring, it can feel heavy-handed, and some of Weepy’s doubts—such as his need to “tell the difference between being needed and being used”—fall away in the face of the book’s larger themes of self-control and strength through pacifism. Such lessons are important and concisely delivered, but they would have been more compelling if paired with deeper characterization. This is especially true of Elin, about whom readers learn very little, beyond her mild impulsivity and her friendship with Weepy. Nonetheless, Hebert delivers some engaging lines that stand out like gems, such as “it began quietly, the way dangerous things often do,” and “enemy fires glowed like fallen stars.”
An entertaining moral tale for young readers about determining one’s character.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781970844696
Page Count: 134
Publisher: Mindstir Media
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
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
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.
Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.
Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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