When Neema’s Indian great-grandmother Kalpana comes to visit her in Australia, she brings with her a dream of flying just a few inches above the ground. At the end of her flight, Kalpana thought, she would see the face of her husband who had died when he was only 20. Seventh-grader Neema dreams of Gull, the good-looking boy who seems oddly familiar, while her best friend Kate dreams of a room of her own. These dreams intersect in unexpected ways during Kalpana’s visit. At school, English teacher Ms. Dallimore, aka the bride of Dracula, has assigned an essay, “Who am I?” Like her classmates, Neema struggles to figure that out. This complex narrative is told from the point of view of various family members, friends, the teacher and even the school cleaning woman, in a way that might be confusing to readers unaccustomed to a fully omniscient narrator. Nevertheless, the humor in this intricate blend of fairy tale elements, Indian culture, school story, friendship and family tensions should carry them through to the warmly satisfying ending. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 15, 2005
ISBN: 1-932425-22-5
Page Count: 168
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2005
There’s some serious swashbuckling underway in this follow-up to the high-spirited The Cabinet of Wonders (2008). When readers last saw Petra and her father, she had foiled the Prince of Bohemia’s evil plans and was back at home. This brief peace is abruptly shattered, however, when the prince sics his uniquely horrific Gray Men on Petra’s home and she barely escapes, thanks to the machinations of the English spy, John Dee. Taken to England, Petra is determined to escape from Dee’s home, even as her friends Tomik and Neel search for her abroad. When Petra makes a bet with Dee that she can solve a murder case before he can, she has no idea of the betrayals and secrets that await her. Once readers get past Petra’s incessant whining in the first half of the story, they’ll be engrossed in a tale that is part mystery and part fantasy, with a reveal at the end so grotesque they’ll be clamoring for the next book’s release date. A true original. (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-374-31027-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2010
Paranormal romance in the style of Melissa Marr and Cassandra Clare. Meghan Chase loves her family, but she doesn’t love living on a pig farm in the Louisiana swamps. At least she’s got one friend—spindly prankster Robbie Goodfell. On Meghan’s 16th birthday, everything changes: Her four-year-old brother is replaced by a changeling, and Robbie admits he is a faery (Puck, of course). Robbie escorts Meghan into the Nevernever on a dangerous rescue mission, where she unsurprisingly discovers she is more than your everyday bayou schoolgirl. Good thing she’s got a crew of helpers: Puck, who seems awfully affectionate; Grimalkin, a vanishing cat with motives of his own; and Ash, an Unseelie prince of cold, unearthly beauty. Though Kagawa’s faeryland initially appears decorated with the stock set dressing of the genre, the novel’s eponymous villain adds a clever, unexpected twist. Genre fans won’t be disappointed, and surely the rest of the series will reveal the truly important answer: Team Ash or Team Robbie? (Paranormal romance. 12-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-373-21008-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2010
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