“Wrong” in the right kind of way.
Three preteens uncover the secret, supernatural history of their Oregon town.
Following her mom’s disappearance in a fire, Eleanor relocates to too-perfect Eden Eld to live with relatives. She devises a “How To Be Normal” plan to give herself a fresh start: don’t talk about Mom or things that aren’t there, go to school, and smile. But, when Eleanor meets classmates Otto and Pip, she almost immediately starts to stray from her plan. Otto and Pip can see the things Eleanor sees—the “wrong things”—like the giant black dog with red eyes that seems to be everywhere. The trio’s strange connections go even deeper, proving to be more than mere coincidence. Local legends say that every 13th Halloween, on their shared 13th birthday, three children go missing. If the legends are true, Eleanor, Otto, and Pip will be the next to disappear. Can they stop fate before it’s too late? Marshall’s paranormal middle-grade debut reads like an expanded, kid-friendly version of Ursula LeGuin’s The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas(1973). Though the characters, both child and adult, perhaps too readily accept their eerie reality without question, the well-laid clues and interwoven original fairy tales compel the plot forward. The cliffhanger ending—filled with juicy, unresolved revelations—hints at a much-needed sequel. Otto is brown-skinned; the rest of the cast is assumed White by default.
“Wrong” in the right kind of way. (Suspense. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11702-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Kibuishi gives his epic tale a hefty nudge toward its long-building climax while giving readers plenty of reasons to stick...
Stonekeeper Emily frees the elves from their monstrous masked ruler and sets out to rejoin her brother and mother in the series’ penultimate episode.
The multistranded storyline picks up with Emily’s return to the world of Alledia. Now a fiery, destructive phoenix struggling to regain control of her actions, Emily goes on to follow her brother Navin and allies as they battle invading shadows on the nearby world of Typhon, then switches back to human form for a climactic confrontation with the Elf King—in the course of which Emily rips off his mask to a chorus of “ERGH!! NO!!! GRAH! RRGH!! AAAGH!” to expose a rousingly hideous face. Cute animal heads on many figures (the result of a curse) and a scene with benevolent-looking trees provide at least a bit of relief from the grim expressions that all the human and humanoid elven characters almost invariably wear. But along with emphatic sound effects, the battle and action scenes in the cleanly drawn, if sometimes cramped, panels feature huge blasts of fire or energy, intricately detailed giant robots, weirdly eyeless monsters, and wild escapades aplenty to keep the pace’s pedal to the metal. Aliens and AIs in the cast come in a variety of hues, elves are a uniform gray, and except for a brief encounter between Emily and a slightly darker lad, the (uncursed) humans default to white.
Kibuishi gives his epic tale a hefty nudge toward its long-building climax while giving readers plenty of reasons to stick around for it. (Graphic fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-545-85002-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
This suspenseful, undersea dystopia should keep middle schoolers hooked.
Several centuries after global warming has devastated the planet, a tyrannical government has taken control of the West Coast of America.
In a small seaside community in what was Southern California, Nere lives with her scientist mother and a pod of trained dolphins. Unbeknownst to Nere, her parents have genetically engineered her and several other children to breathe under water so they can live free there someday. When the government announces its intention to move the entire community inland, Nere’s mother finishes the alterations on the children and sends them away into the sea, where they will try to join Nere’s father’s colony for these new “Neptune children.” Nere and her friends, along with their friendly dolphins, must make their way there under the sea while fighting sharks and avoiding capture by government forces. They communicate telepathically, and Nere is even able to talk with the dolphins. Together with other Neptune children from Southern California, they head north, hiding and fighting all the way. Holyoke keeps her prose well-pitched to her audience, providing enough violence and even death to create suspense but muting it appropriately. She creates an interesting and diverse set of characters, including the dolphins. The science-fiction elements are nothing new, but they are built on good information about oceanography.
This suspenseful, undersea dystopia should keep middle schoolers hooked. (Science fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 21, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4231-5756-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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