by Kaela Noel ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2024
An ominous and well-executed supernatural fantasy with cozy mystery undertones.
An evocative, vintage setting houses a dark—yet adorable—secret.
Twelve-year-old Elisabeth “Elsby” MacBride arrives in Snipatuit, Rhode Island, from Brooklyn to stay with her mysterious aunt Verity in her Carpenter Gothic–style home for the summer. One stormy night, three talking cats show up and ask for her help. They invite Elsby to their house, which is just next door. The sinister small-town New England setting seeps into the narrative, with the cats’ magical origins connecting to wealthy early Snipatuit landowner Algernon Endicott and his strange, castlelike library, filled with occult books. While visiting the library, Elsby meets a goth girl named Penelope Peres, a volunteer who has a morbid fascination with the town’s history of ghosts and spells. Together, the girls dive deeper into the cats’ strange powers. Noel’s writing embraces a comforting historical atmosphere. Allusions to classic literature, including Beowulf, T.S. Eliot, and Emily Dickinson, are juxtaposed with references to astrology and planetary activity that support the supernatural storyline. The imaginative descriptions, well-developed characterization, and sophisticated vocabulary will appeal to keen readers. Meanwhile, coming-of-age themes explore tween friendships and belonging. The combination of anthropomorphized cats with menacing magic will satisfy a diverse range of readers. Elsby reads white; olive-skinned Penelope is cued as being of Portuguese descent.
An ominous and well-executed supernatural fantasy with cozy mystery undertones. (Fantasy. 9-13)Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780062956002
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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BOOK REVIEW
by Kaela Noel
by Aubrey Hartman ; illustrated by Christopher Cyr ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023
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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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
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