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MINES OF THE MINOTAUR

BOOK THREE, THE COMPANIONS QUARTET

Golding’s series about epic environmental danger continues its steady, gentle tone. Connie, Col and some relatives and friends are members of a secret Society, charged with protecting pegasi, frost wolves, water sprites and other creatures assumed to be imaginary. Each human is companion to one type of creature, except Connie, who’s a Universal. She’s vastly powerful, but her training’s been vague and mentorless. When she inadvertently conjures dangerous weather, the Society panics. A sour trustee expels Connie, while loyal friends cautiously venture inside her mind, seeking the hidden darkness that causes her to raise storms. It’s the mark of evil Kullervo, who left a contact point inside her in the past. Kullervo is evil’s embodiment, and he’s also nature’s vengeance for human pollution. Golding’s physical scope stays safely within a small coastal region and shoreline, but the battle affects all of earth’s humans and wildlife. Global warming and psychoanalytic symbolism move to the forefront; some readers may wish for a less victimized heroine, but earnest narration and an ocean battle carry the day. (Fantasy. 9-14)

Pub Date: May 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-7614-5302-4

Page Count: 269

Publisher: Marshall Cavendish

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2008

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THE LION OF LARK-HAYES MANOR

A pleasing premise for book lovers.

A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.

When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)

A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

ISBN: 9780316448222

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023

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GEORGIE SUMMERS AND THE SCRIBES OF SCATTERPLOT

A half-baked jumble of poorly connected themes, incidents, and tropes.

Eleven-year-old Georgie sets out to the rescue after seeing his dad snatched into thin air by a hideous figure.

In a confusing debut that reads like a first draft, the kidnapping impels the young slingshot expert to go from doggedly enduring vicious bullying at school to intrepidly plunging after his father through a portal to Scatterplot, an otherworldly realm where the memories of everyone in New York are uploaded by omnilingual Scribes. Classmates Apurva Aluwhalia (who’s cued South Asian) and Roscoe Harris (who reads Black and is confined to a role that’s largely limited to comic relief), each motivated by their own concerns, follow white-presenting Georgie on his adventure. In Scatterplot, they must remain alert for the “tribe” of “bad people” called Altercockers, formed by the exiled Rollie D. Meanwhile, Flint Eldritch, the menacing figure who was responsible for Georgie’s father’s disappearance, is bent on using the Aetherquill, a magical pen that can rewrite reality in unpredictable ways, to replace all those recorded memories with fake ones. In a story that’s marred by stilted dialogue, flat characterization, and awkward turns of phrase, Georgie and his friends, along with Scatterplot siblings Edie and Ore, embark on a quest to save both his father and the entire realm. The puss-oozing, misshapen villain Flint, crawling with bugs, does at least provide a memorably lurid element of horror. The novel ends with an abrupt cliffhanger.

A half-baked jumble of poorly connected themes, incidents, and tropes. (Fantasy. 10-13)

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025

ISBN: 9798886453164

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press

Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025

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