Both an enticing mystery and a satisfying emotional journey.
A game night provides an avenue for pushing past social anxiety.
Amy would much prefer to be nose-deep in a good detective novel than socializing with her peers. Although she and her therapist work on strategies to help her calm down in panic-inducing situations and to step out of her comfort zone, things like class presentations send her spiraling. So she’s surprised when classmate Reagan invites her to a murder mystery–themed birthday party with three other schoolmates. As the game begins, Amy finds freedom in the detective work and in her assigned character, scientist Millie Morgan (“If I mess up or act weird, it can just be part of Millie’s storyline,” she reasons). As the group looks for clues, Amy speaks up and finds herself leading the investigation. Though the experience isn’t without its challenges, it’s ultimately positive and rings true, and Evans realistically conveys Amy’s anxiety symptoms. And readers will have a blast solving the mystery. Reminiscent of Raina Telgemeier’s or Remy Lai’s work, Bell’s cartoon illustrations establish the mood effectively. The costumes, palette, and setting fluctuate; when the game’s on, Amy and the other girls resemble their characters and seem to truly be exploring an old-timey manor. Panel backgrounds turn gray when Amy’s thoughts become overwhelming. The party guests are a sympathetic bunch and easily accept Amy’s sharing of her diagnosis. Amy has pale skin and black hair; the other kids vary in skin tone.
Both an enticing mystery and a satisfying emotional journey. (Graphic mystery. 8-13)Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9780063282483
Page Count: 208
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best.
Friendly curiosity and a gift for naming earn a polar bear an assortment of (mostly animal) friends, adventures, mishaps, and discoveries.
Arriving at a northern ocean, Duane spies a shipwreck. Swimming out to investigate, he meets its lone occupant, C.C., a learned snowy owl whose noble goal is acquiring knowledge to apply “toward the benefit of all.” Informing Duane that he’s a polar bear, she points out a nearby cave that might suit him—it even has a mattress. Adding furnishings from the wreck—the grandfather clock’s handless, but who needs to tell time when it’s always now?—he meets a self-involved musk ox, entranced by his own reflection, who’s delighted when Duane names him “Handsome.” As he comes to understand, then appreciate their considerable diversity, Duane brings out the best in his new friends. C.C., who has difficulty reading emotions and dislikes being touched, evokes the autism spectrum. Magic, a bouncy, impulsive arctic fox, manifests ADHD. Major Puff, whose proud puffin ancestry involves courageous retreats from danger, finds a perfect companion in Twitch, a risk-aware, common-sensical hare. As illustrated, Sun Girl, a human child, appears vaguely Native, and Squint, a painter, white, but they’re sui generis: The Canadian author avoids referencing human culture. The art conveys warmth in an icy setting; animal characters suggest beloved stuffed toys, gently reinforcing the message that friendship founded on tolerance breeds comfort and safety.
Quirky and imaginative—postmodern storytelling at its best. (Animal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3341-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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