Silly witches, transformed birds and a plucky heroine equal “real, live adventure.” (Fantasy. 8-12)
Having accidentally transformed three birds into humans, sibling witches must coerce a practical girl to help them reverse the spell, but she proves an unreliable cohort.
The Baldwin sisters keep a low profile in “poky old Wheatfield,” where no one knows they are really witches. By turning an owl and two fledgling sparrows into a man and two boys, the sisters have breached the strict witch code forbidding human transformation and have five days to reverse the spell or the change becomes permanent. Worse, they then lose the ex-owl and one of the ex-sparrows. When the sisters lure 11-year-old Fortuna Dalliance to their suitably spooky house to see if she’s got the right stuff to help them, she’s terrified, but she’s also been itching for excitement. Soon becoming attached to bird-boy Martin, Fortuna hides him so he’ll remain human. Threatened by the local coven and aided by the bird community, the sisters are desperate to find the three missing bird-humans, but Fortuna can’t decide what to do. Like the crones in Dahl’s The Witches, the Baldwin sisters supply sinister humor, while conflicted heroine Fortuna must decide whether to let her friend fly free. Black-and-white spot art adds charm to this contemporary debut fantasy.
Silly witches, transformed birds and a plucky heroine equal “real, live adventure.” (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4231-5815-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power.
Will 12-year-old Nura be able to outsmart the trickster jinn and save herself and her friends?
Nura lives in the fictional Pakistani town of Meerabagh, where she has worked mining mica to help support her family of five—her mother, herself, and her three younger siblings—since her father’s death. In the mines she has the company of her best friend, Faisal, who is teased by other kids for his stutter, and she enjoys small pleasures like splurging on gulab jamun. Although Maa wants Nura to stop working and attend school, she has no interest in classroom learning and hopes to save up to send her younger siblings to school instead so they can break the family’s cycle of poverty. Following a mining accident in which Faisal and others are lost in the rubble, Nura goes to the rescue. In her quest, she is plunged into the magical, glittering jinn realm, where nothing is as it seems. The author seamlessly weaves into the worldbuilding of the story commentary on real-life problems such as the ravages of child labor and systems that perpetuate inequities. An informative author’s note further explores present-day global cycles of oppression as well as the life-changing power of education. This action-packed story set in a Muslim community moves at a fast pace, with evocative writing that brings the fantasy world to life and lyrical imagery to describe emotions.
An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: July 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5795-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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