A tidy wrap-up for a tale with topical roots.
Crisis looms in this trilogy conclusion, as the power-hungry leader of ecologically overexploited Orbis seeks relief by planning an invasion of verdant Evantra.
Signs of desperation in the increasingly autocratic behavior of her mother, Adriana Octavius, Orbis’s Chief Councilor, prompt Davinia and her supporter, Allie, to step up their clandestine campaign to expose Adriana’s lies about traitors within and enemies without. Meanwhile, having helped to heal the subterranean Vine that nurtures Evantra’s eco-conscious populace (and embodies the story’s environmentalist themes), Quintus sets off across the ocean for Orbis in hopes that it’s not too late to revive his homeland’s own withered portion of the worldwide Vine. Replete with chases, narrow escapes, secret meetings, and dramatic rescues, the lively plot leads to a tense but relatively nonviolent climax that includes a joyful whirl of reunions and revelations. Though Davinia does show a winning streak of edginess (“‘Relax,’ Davinia said. ‘It can’t be worse than all those times you tried and failed to Call a banana.’”), the racially undifferentiated human cast generally comes off as flat; still, there are timely elements in the setting and story, plus several heavy-duty flying unicorns (dubbed “rhinodrites”) to delight readers who are fond of scene-stealing magical animals in their fantasies.
A tidy wrap-up for a tale with topical roots. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9781797222608
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2026
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic.
A loyal black kitten’s boy is under supernatural attack.
Eleven-month-old Nimbus loves Fletcher, the boy who nursed her back to health following life-threatening injuries. When Fletcher becomes curious about a strange jar and opens it, releasing a terrible goblin, loyal Nim protects Fletcher, taking heavy damage in the process. But Fletcher’s aunt, who’s caring for him over spring break, believes Nim attacked Fletcher and dumps her far from home. Rhett, a stylish rat with star quality, befriends injured Nim and leads her to a witch’s house. While the witch cares for Nim, the witch’s cats (maternal Fern, bookish Rochester, standoffish Bianca, and openly hostile Abraxas) teach Nim important cat skills. She also discovers she has a supernatural ability: In destroying one eye of the nightmare demon in the fight to protect Fletcher, Nim gained its “dream sight.” But she also learns it might come back for Fletcher, who no longer has Nim to protect him, posing a time-sensitive, high-stakes threat. Even though the witch’s home is nice and magic itself seems to be telling her to stay put, Nim wants to find a way back to Fletcher. As a hero, Nimbus is as gritty and determined as she is adorable. Tear-jerker moments explore pet abandonment—readers may want their own pets on hand to hug—all the way through the magical, action-packed finale. Fletcher and the witch read white.
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780062680372
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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