Solid introduction to a potentially vast magical world.
In this YA fantasy debut, dark forces target a young man after learning he has roots in a magical community.
Eleven-year-old Luke Rayburn from Houston, Texas, is the oldest of five children. When his father loses his job at the tire plant, life becomes a bit uncertain. Luke usually finds solace under his favorite oak tree in the lot across the street. But one night, a sinister man named Saul appears out of the darkness to inform Luke that his fate is tied to an ancient, powerful book and, by extension, the world. Afterward, his life only gets stranger when benevolent tree dryads and black-eyed pursuers (called darkmen) appear. Thankfully, Luke’s grandparents are able to whisk the family away—via a magical tunnel—to a secret town called Countryside. There, all beings legendary and wonderful live peacefully (including angels and centaurs), and Luke receives special schooling in the manipulation of light. Yet he must still beware the forces of evil that desire the ancient book (wherever it may be hidden), because someone in Countryside is helping darkmen—and worse enemies—sneak past the community’s magical barriers. There’s also a red twinkle on the northern horizon foreshadowing the world’s destruction. Debut author Cope brings the loveliness of small-town America to his narrative through upstanding characters (children use sir and ma’am when addressing adults) and idyllic settings; in a gardened alley, for example, “Pinpricks of blue light floated through the air...visible against a canopy of ivy, and birds the size of plums flitted back and forth.” It’s easy for Luke—and readers—to slip into this cozy realm that’s laced with magic and presided over by confident adults, like Uncle Landon and estate manager Quentin Acharon. These elements make for a rather sedate narrative, however. Football games and cute girls on horseback keep the story in first gear until the shadowy villains slither into view. While the diverse plot threads weave together colorfully, the result feels more like a mystery that’s setting up the fantasy to come.
Solid introduction to a potentially vast magical world.Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-0996050012
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Tiner Publishers
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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