Both the concept and the well-paced suspense will appeal.
Ryder has just turned 11, the same age as the cartoon character created by her years-dead mother, and learns that she can enter the cartoon world—and possibly save it.
Ryder’s mom, a brilliant animator, based her main character, Rory, on Ryder. Rory is a swashbuckling girl adventurer in an extremely popular cartoon series, soon to be a film. Now Ryder’s dad is interested in nasty Bernice, who wants to make the film Rory into a sappy princess with a vapid magic wand instead of a scrappy slingshot. Scandalized, Ryder doesn’t know what to do until Rory herself steps out of the TV and invites Ryder into her world, Ecalpon (“No Place”). There they team up with Ryder’s nerdy Jewish friend, Eli, to change the movie back to the original concept. Ryder, Rory, and Eli enlist the aid of Connie, Bernice’s one likable daughter. Inhabiting the wireframe layer of the animation, the children learn they can drag artwork from the trash to re-create the original drawings. But can they win the race against time to save Rory and the film? Alternating narration among Ryder, Rory, and minor characters in Ecalpon, Lasky creates her own absorbing magical world, neatly folding it around a story of friendship. The cast is not notably diverse; with the possible exception of Connie, they all seem to be white.
Both the concept and the well-paced suspense will appeal. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-553-49891-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience.
Ben Silverstein’s summer with Grandpa is about to go wild.
When his parents need to “work out some troubles,” 10-year-old Ben gets shipped off to tiny Buttonville, where everything seems to be closed or out of business since the button factory was shuttered years ago. Ben’s used to spending summers in the pool in his Los Angeles backyard with his friends, and Buttonville looks positively coma-inducing. When Grandpa’s mouser Barnaby deposits what has to be a baby dragon on Ben’s bed, Ben and his new friend Pearl (whom the whole town calls “troublemaker” on account of a few innocent incidents) decide to visit the new “worm doctor” who has moved into the abandoned button factory. (Ben had heard her strange assistant Mr. Tabby buying ingredients for “dragon’s milk” at the grocery....) When their visit unleashes a hairy, pudding-loving imaginary beast on the town of Buttonville, Ben and Pearl volunteer to catch him. Selfors kicks off her Imaginary Veterinary series with a solid, entertaining opener. Ben and Pearl are Everykids that readers will relate to, and the adults of Buttonville are often delightfully weird and clueless. Twenty-five pages of backmatter include information on wyverns and sasquatch as well as the science of reptiles and a pudding recipe.
More hijinks-filled adventure than mystery, this is sure to win an audience. (Adventure. 8-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-20934-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
This successful sequel offers relatable heroes for a new generation.
Ava and her friends return for another year at their magical school.
After narrowly avoiding expulsion during her first year and discovering her link to the goddess Medusa, eighth grader Ava Baldwin returns to Accademia del Forte, a boarding school in Venice for kids who are descended from mythological monsters. Though she’s eager to reunite with her friends, Ava is committed to her new mission: challenging the lies that the Olympian gods have told to keep themselves in power and conceal their misdeeds. Instead, however, Ava finds herself consumed with jealousy over her friend Layla’s newfound beauty, popularity, and boyfriend. Her efforts are further interrupted by bullies like Cyclops descendant Zale, as well as the new headmaster, demigod Perseus, who infuses the school with toxic hero worship. Disaster strikes when Layla, like many girls and women before her, is punished by the gods for her beauty and confidence. Committed vegan Layla is transformed into a bloodthirsty Empusa and must choose between compromising her morals or starving to death; can Ava and her friends save her before it’s too late? As in the series opener, this second installment skillfully weaves familiar mythology with coming-of-age concerns, all filtered through a feminist lens. Full of humor, adventure, and heart, this story, with its diverse cast of international characters, will delight readers.
This successful sequel offers relatable heroes for a new generation. (map) (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780063303799
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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